Jayalalithaa gives Rs 10 lakh each to kin of Dornier crash victims

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today gave away ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each of the three officers of the Coast Guard who were killed when a Dornier plane crashed on June 8.

Jayalalithaa handed over the cheques to Amrutha Soni, widow of Deputy Commandant M K Soni and Deepalakshmi Ravichandran, widow of Deputy Commandant Subash Suresh at the Secretariat here.

Inspector General S P Sharma, Coast Guard Region (East) and Commandant Chandramouli received the cheque on behalf of Sushma, widow of Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar.

Coast Guard's Dornier aircraft CG 791 went missing on June 8 while on a surveillance mission with three officers MK Soni, Subash Suresh and Vidyasagar on board.

After extensive and prolonged search operations by multiple agencies, the plane's wreckage and human remains were recovered from the sea off Chidambaram coast in Cuddalore district on July 10.

DNA tests confirmed last week that the human remains were that of three crew members. A ceremony was held by Coast Guard here yesterday to pay homage to the three victims.

Later, the mortal remains of the three victims were handed over to their family members.

On August 10, Jayalalithaa had announced the ex-gratia to the kin of Coast Guard crash victims.