IAF Mirage test pilot Negi's body cremated in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Feb 3 (IANS) The mortal remains of IAF test pilot Squadron Leader Siddhartha Negi were cremated with military honours here on Saturday, a day after he died in the Mirage-2000 fighter crash on Friday, an official said."Squadron Leader Negi's body was cremated this morning (Saturday) with full military honours by the air force in the presence of his family, including his widow," an Indian Air Force (IAF) spokesman told IANS here.Details of Negi's last rites were, however, not shared with the media either by the Defence Ministry or the IAF here.Negi's senior colleague Squadron Leader Samir Abrol from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh was the other test pilot who died in the crash of the jet on a test sortie at the military airport in the city's eastern suburb."Abrol's body was flown to Ghaziabad earlier in the day for the last rites in his home town with full military honours," the official added.Negi, whose age has not been officially disclosed, hails from Dehradun in Uttarkhand and was commissioned into the IAF a decade ago.An ace fighter pilot, Negi was on deputation over six months to the IAF Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) as a test pilot from his unspecified air base.Abrol, who was commissioned in 2008, was also on deputation to the ASTE as a test pilot over six months from his air base, not specified.
--IANS fb/pgh/