When a Union Minister of State from Tamil Nadu died in a chopper crash in Arunachal Pradesh

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On the morning of November 14, 1997, N.V.N. Somu, Union Minister of State for Defence in the I.K. Gujral Government and a well-known DMK trade union leader, had telephoned his wife Uma Devi. “I will be at home tonight,” he told her from Arunachal Pradesh. He asked her to read out the important reports from the local newspapers and requested her to tell their son-in-law to spend the night at his residence in Purasawalkam in Chennai.

N.V.N. Somu.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

Moments later, Somu boarded a helicopter. The chopper, also carrying Major General Ramesh Nagpaul and two Army pilots, Major P.K. Agarwal and Major P.C. Sharma, took off in the Lungar Sector, north of Mago in Tawang district. Five minutes after take-off, around 9.10 a.m., the chopper crashed, killing all four occupants.

Somu, who represented the Madras North parliamentary constituency, had gone to the border districts in the Northeast for an inspection of Army units. He planned to leave for Calcutta from Tezpur and return to Chennai by flight the same night and participate the following day as chief guest in the National Book Week Celebrations.

“On this scheduled trip to his hometown, he was to have formally requested the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, to write a foreword for a proposed publication on his father, the late N.V. Natarajan, one of the founder-members of the DMK. News of the crash came as a bolt from the blue for his family and friends in the city around noon,” said a report in The Hindu dated November 15, 1997.

Five helicopters were sent on a search mission immediately after radio contact was lost with the chopper carrying Somu.

The Prime Minister of India, I.K. Gujral, his wife, Sheila Gujral, former Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, after placing wreaths on the coffin of N.V.N. Somu, killed in a helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh, in Chennai on November 15, 1997.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

“The wreckage of the helicopter and the bodies of the Minister and other victims were discovered at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres in a snow-bound area after a prolonged search. Sources said bad weather could have caused the crash. Immediately after learning the news of the tragedy, the Prime Minister, Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral, called up the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, and conveyed his condolences to the family members of Mr. Somu. The Prime Minister also cancelled his scheduled visit to Mumbai,” a report said.

‘Wise and gentle’

Gujral described Somu as a warm and gentle person. “His views were always constructive and were expressed in the larger interest of the country. I shall miss his wise counsel in the Council of Ministers.”

A shocked Karunanidhi described Somu as the one who “functioned as the artery of the Dravidian movement” and his contribution could never be forgotten. “He was the personification of love and compassion, a model of simplicity and he moved with everyone with brotherly affection. Death had suddenly engulfed such a kind-hearted person,” Karunanidhi said.

N.V.N. Somu addressing a gathering as the president of The Hindu Office Employees’ Union in Madras.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

Somu, incidentally, was also the president of the trade union in The Hindu for over 25 years.

On November 15, the General Officer Commanding, ATNKK and G Area. Major General. R.S. Nagra, received the mortal remains of the Union Minister at the Meenambakkam old airport. Naval Officer in-charge Commodore A.K. Madan and Air Officer Commanding Tambaram IAF station Air Commodore P.N. Dew were also present.

Amid a drizzle, thousands of mourners gathered at his home in Purasawalkam and at the Brick Kiln Road cremation ground. The police had a tough time controlling the crowd that wanted to get closer to the coffin. Business establishments in Purasawalkam remained closed.

The Prime Minister, along with a host of senior politicians, including BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, TMC leader G.K. Moopanar, and the chiefs of the three uniformed services paid homage to his mortal remains.

Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s wife, Dayalammal, and others consoling the family of N.V.N. Somu.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

At the funeral, the Army presented a 21-gun salute and reversed arms and the body was consigned to flames.

The last rites were performed by the Minister’s son. Dr. Thirumaran, who lit the pyre after a brief religious ceremony. Thousands of mourners stood in silence as the Army buglers sounded the “Last Post.”

Somu’s daughter Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu is a member of the Rajya Sabha representing the DMK.

Published – January 28, 2026 01:00 pm IST