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Rajouri encounter: Kangra bids tearful adieu to braveheart Arvind Kumar
Chief parliamentary secretary Ashish Butail, Sulah legislator Vipin Singh Parmar, chairperson of HP Agriculture Development Bank Sanjay Chauhan were among the people who paid their homage to the braveheart
Villagers bid a tearful adieu to Lance Naik Arvind Kumar, 32, at Suri in Kangra’s Dheera subdivision on Sunday.
Kumar of 9 Para SF was among five soldiers killed in an anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri on Friday.
His funeral was attended by hundreds of locals as well as outsiders. Kumar’s body, wrapped in the Tricolour, was brought to his native village early on Sunday morning. He was cremated with full state and military honours.
The fallen solider is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters Shanvi, 4, and Shanvika, 2.
Agriculture minister Chaudhary Chander Kumar laid the wreath on behalf of the state government.
Chief parliamentary secretary Ashish Butail, Sulah legislator Vipin Singh Parmar, chairperson of HP Agriculture Development Bank Sanjay Chauhan were among the people who paid their homage to the braveheart.
A good athlete
Besides being a commando, Kumar was also a good athlete. As per his family, Kumar continued sports after joining the army and won several medals. He participated in athletics and shooting championships in Germany and Singapore on the behalf of the Indian Army, said his brother-in-law, Kalyan Chand.
Father oblivious of Kumar’s death
Kumar’s father Ujjwal Singh, who retired from the PWD, doesn’t know that his son has laid down his live for the sake of nation. He had suffered memory loss due to some illness and could not recover despite Kumar getting him treated in various hospitals. Ujjwal stared at the mourners visiting his house, but couldn’t speak due to his illness.
School to be named after Kumar
Agriculture minister Chander Kumar promised a government job to Kumar’s wife and announced to rename the government senior secondary school in Marhun after him.
He said that immediate relief of ₹5 lakh has been provided to Kumar’s family by the SDM. “The government stands by the soldiers who have laid down their lives to protect the sovereignty of India and will provide every possible help to the family members,” said the minister.
Searches continue, no fresh contact with terrorists in Rajouri
Meanwhile, no fresh contact was established with holed up terrorists in the forested Kandi area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, where a massive search operation to track ultras entered the third day on Sunday, officials said.
“There was no fresh contact with the terrorists after Saturday’s encounter. The area witnessed heavy rains in the evening (Saturday) but the operation is on and the area remains under tight security cordon with all escape routes plugged,” a senior security official said.
He said army, police and CRPF personnel are deployed in the operation area and are engaged in a massive combing operation to track down the terrorists.
