Jammu/Muzaffarnagar/Kallithanda: Emotional scenes were witnessed across the country as the last rites of those killed in shelling by Pakistan during the recent military conflict with India were performed Sunday.
The Jammu division, which bore the brunt of heavy Pakistani firing and shelling, suffered the most casualties, including civilians.
Rifleman Sunil Kumar (25), who was posted with the 4 J-K Light Infantry regiment, was given a tearful adieu with hundreds of mourners joining his last rites at his native village Triva in the Arnia sector.
Kumar was critically injured in cross-border shelling along the International Border in the RS Pura sector early Saturday. He succumbed to his injuries later.
The 25-year-old came from a military background — his two elder brothers currently serve in the armed forces, while his father is an ex-serviceman.
Kumar’s relatives said he was inspired to join the army and serve the nation from a young age.
“The entire village is in mourning, as we lost a son of the soil who grew up in this border village and sacrificed his life in service of the nation,” Balbir Kour, a former sarpanch, told PTI.
In another incident of cross-border shelling in the same sector, Mohammed Imteyaz, a BSF sub-inspector, lost his life.
J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary joined the wreath-laying ceremony for Imteyaz Sunday.
Minister Satish Sharma and senior BSF and police officers also paid floral tributes to the BSF sub-inspector.
A native of Bihar, Imteyaz was killed when a mortar shell from Pakistan exploded near his post along the International Border. Seven of his colleagues were also injured in the attack.
The J-K government, meanwhile, paid rich tributes to Raj Kumar Thapa, the additional district development commissioner in Rajouri, who was killed after a mortar shell landed on his residential compound.
Thapa’s mortal remains were brought to his Roop Nagar residence on the outskirts of Jammu in a police vehicle. Later, he was cremated at a nearby cremation ground.
Lt Governor Sinha also visited the bereaved family to offer his condolences.
“Dr Thapa’s contribution to J-K’s development is immense. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and numerous admirers in this hour of grief. I pray for peace for the departed soul,” Sinha said.
In Andhra Pradesh, soldier Mudavath Murali Naik’s body reached his native district Sri Sathyasai Sunday. Naik laid down his life in the cross-border shelling in Poonch district.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, IT Minister Nara Lokesh and other ministers paid tributes to the slain soldier.
Kalyan also announced a Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia from his side, and expressed solidarity with the family.
He told reporters that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia, five acres of agricultural land, and 300 square yards of land for housing to Naik’s family.
The mortal remains of soldier Surendra Kumar, who was martyred in Udhampur, were consigned to flames with full military honours at his native village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district Sunday.
A large number of mourners gathered at the cremation ground to bid farewell to the brave soldier.
Surendra Kumar, an assistant medical sergeant in the Indian Air Force, lost his life in the attack on the Udhampur airbase.
Eight-year-old Daksh, Surendra’s son, lit the funeral pyre amid chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Surendra Kumar Amar Rahe”.
In Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, who was killed in Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, was cremated with full state honours at his native village Sunday.
Emotional scenes were witnessed as his son lit the funeral pyre, with a large number of mourners bidding him a tearful adieu with “Subedar Major Pawan Kumar Amar Rahe” and “Pakistan Murdabad” chants.
The military conflict also claimed the lives of two civilians — Mohammad Sahib (35) and his two-year-old niece Ayesha from Uttar Pradesh — who were killed in Rajouri district Saturday.
Sahib and his niece were buried in their native village Khai Khedi with a large number of mourners attending the burial.
PTI
