Tears and tributes mark last rites of Poonch attack victims

Chandigarh: The last rites of the five soldiers who were killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch sector were performed with full state honours in their respective villages on Saturday.

The deceased soldiers were Lance Naik Debashish Baswal from Odisha and Havaldar Mandeep Singh, Lance Naik Kulwant Singh, Sepoy Harkrishan Singh, and Sepoy Sewak Singh, all from Punjab.

At Alagum village in Odisha’s Puri district, scores of people gathered to pay their final respects as Biswal’s body arrived in an army convoy and was consigned to flames with full military honours.

Governor Ganeshi Lal and other dignitaries had paid their tributes to Biswal at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar. “Debashish Amar Rahe” slogans rented the air as the convoy with Biswal’s body travelled from Bhubaneswar to Puri.

The 28-year-old was supposed to celebrate his second marriage anniversary on Saturday. “He was very hardworking and had joined the army with the aim to serve the nation. The whole village is in shock. Although we are proud of him, we are shattered. He was one of the brightest children in this village,” his cousin, Dilip Biswal, said.

In Punjab, a large number of people bid a tearful adieu to four soldiers who were killed in the attack.

At Talwandi Bharth village, under Fatehgarh Churian assembly segment, the final rites of Sepoy Harkrishan Singh were performed with full state honours.

“My son always talked about sacrificing his life for the country. And he finally did so,” his father Mangal Singh said.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to the grieving kin over the phone and assured all forms of support, according to XXXX. He also said the family’s demands for adequate compensation and construction of a sports stadium in the soldier’s memory are being considered.

In Moga’s Charik and Bathinda’s Bagha, the mortal remains of Lance Naik Kulwant Singh and Sepoy Sewak Singh were consigned to flames in a similar manner.

As Kulwant’s body reached his village in an army vehicle decked with flowers, a large number of people gathered to pay their last respects. The soldier’s four-month-old son lit his pyre as locals chanted “Shaheed Amar Rahe” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.

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The 32-year-old, who joined the army in 2009, was the second member in his family to have died in a terrorist attack. His father, Baldev Singh, who was posted in Kargil, had also died in a terror attack earlier.

Friends and relatives of Sepoy Sewak Singh gathered at his house in Bagha village, Talwandi Sabo subdivision of Bathinda district, as his mortal remains arrived.

AAP MLA Baljinder Kaur, singer Sidhu Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh and officials from the army, district administration and police attended his last rites.

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