Last rites of Colonel, his family performed
The final rites of Colonel Viplav Tripathi were performed on Monday evening, at a crematorium, near Circuit House with full military and state honours.
Thousands of people flooded the streets of Raigarh town, on Monday, to pay last tribute to the commanding officer of Assam Rifles, his wife and son, who were killed in a militant ambush in Manipur on Saturday.
Four personnel of the country’s oldest paramilitary were also killed in the attack.
The final rites of Colonel Viplav Tripathi were performed on Monday evening, at a crematorium, near Circuit House with full military and state honours.
Residents and traders of Raigarh town observed a ‘bandh’ to pay tribute to Tripathi and his family. Thousands of people gathered from nearby areas to pay tribute to the commanding officer in Raigarh town.
Higher Education Minister Umesh Patel, along with four legislators and senior police officers were present during the final rites.
Earlier on Monday, the mortal remains of Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife Anuja and son Abeer, were brought to their hometown Raigarh in Chhattisgarh on Monday. A special plane of the Indian Air Force carrying mortal remains of the martyred colonel, his wife and son, landed at an airstrip in Raigarh at 12:42 pm.
Tripathi’s younger brother, Lieutenant Colonel Anay Tripathi, state’s higher education minister Umesh Patel, Raigarh MP Gomti Sai, local MLAs, district administration and police officials were present at the airstrip in Raigarh district.
The mortal remains were taken in an open flower-decked truck to Colonel Tripathi’s home and subsequently kept at the Riagarh’s Ramleela ground for the public to pay homage.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel also expressed his condolences after the arrival of mortal remains in Raigarh on Monday.
On Sunday, Colonel R S Thakur of the Assam Rifles, four other officers and 45 personnel reached Raigarh to express condolences to the family members.
Tripathi’s father Subhash Tripathi is a senior journalist and editor of local Hindi daily ‘Dainik Bayar’ and his grandfather Kishori Mohan Tripathi was a freedom fighter.
Born on May 30, 1980, Viplav went to the Sainik School Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) after passing class V at a school in Raigarh town.
After schooling, Viplav got admission to the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla and then joined the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, Patnaik said.
In 2001, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Kumaon Regiment in Ranikhet. He later passed a command course from the Defence Service Staff College (DSSC) Wellington.
