President Ram Nath Kovind, who is on a visit to Maharashtra, was scheduled to inaugurate the new Darbar Hall at the Raj Bhavan here on Wednesday, but the event was put off in the wake of the crash of an IAF helicopter which had Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat among others onboard in Tamil Nadu.

A Raj Bhavan statement in the evening said the event was put off in the wake of a “sad incident involving an IAF helicopter”. The Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter carrying Gen Rawat, his wife and other officers met with an accident earlier in the day near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.