A pall of gloom descended on Lt Navdeep Singh's house here on Saturday when the army headquarters broke the news of his death in an encounter with militants in Kashmir's Gurez sector.
The army officer's father, Capt Joginder Singh (retd), told Hindustan Times that Navdeep had talked to
him and other family members on the phone on Friday.
He said he was proud to be the father of Navdeep, who had died fighting for the country.
Joginder Singh said his son had completed degrees in hotel management and MBA before joining the Army in 2009. Navdeep's grandfather Ajit Singh had fought and was injured in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
Navdeep's younger sister Jyoti is doing MA in English from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, while his younger brother, Sandeep Singh, is doing BA in the local government college.
Navdeep's family hails from Ucha Dhakala village, 8 km from Gurdaspur, where they own agricultural land. They settled in Gurdaspur eight years ago. Neighbours told HT that Navdeep was a sincere student.