Body of war hero and commander of Sector-4 during the country’s Liberation War, Major General (retd) CR Dutta, Bir Uttam, reached Dhaka this morning from Florida, USA.
“Carrying his body, a passenger flight of Emirates Airlines landed at the Dhaka airport at 8:40am. CR Dutta’s younger daughter Chayanika Dutta and her husband David were also on the flight,” Rana Das Gupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, told The Daily Star.
CR Dutta’s body was kept at the mortuary of Dhaka CMH, he added.
Rana Das also said CR Dutta’s body will be kept at his Banani residence in the city at 7:00am tomorrow for common people to pay their respects.
“From there, his body will be taken to Dhakeswary Mondir at 8:00am. He will be given state guard of honour there,” said Rana Das.
Around 11:00am, CR Dutta’s body will be taken to Sobujbagh Crematorium, where Bangladesh Army will present him a gun salute before his cremation.
Earlier on August 25, General CR Dutta Jatiya Committee in a press release said preparations were being taken to arrange the war hero’s funeral with the highest military and state honour after bringing his body to Bangladesh from Florida, USA.
CR Dutta’sother two daughters and son also reached Dhaka by a Qatar Airways flight at 2:10am on Monday.
A 1001-member national citizens’ committee has already been formed, headed by Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, sector commander of the country’s Liberation War, to show final respects to CR Dutta.
Major General (retd) Chitta Ranjan Dutta, Bir Uttam, popularly known as CR Dutta, had been suffering from various old-age complications and passed away in the US on August 25 at the age of 93.
He was awarded the “Bir Uttam” title for his gallantry during the Liberation War.
He had been the founding president of Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, a platform of different religious minority groups, until his death.
