Former Army chief General KV Krishna Rao, who played a key role in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, died yesterday at the military hospital in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest. He was 92.
Rao also served as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir at a time when militancy was at its peak in the state, reports Indian English daily newspaper The Tribune.
Rao was the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army. He was commissioned into the army on August 9, 1942. As a young officer, he had served in Burma, North West Frontier and Baluchistan during the Second World War.
During extensive Punjab disturbances in the run up to the partition in 1947, he served both in East and West Punjab.
He also participated in the 1947-48 war against Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. He was a founder Instructor of the National Defence Academy during 1949-51.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar condoled his death and said the country has lost one of our best known military leaders. Rao’s contribution in the 1971 war and maintaining the unity and integrity of the country shall always be remembered, he said.
