People had gathered to pay tribute as the mortal remains of the soldiers, who were killed in a terror attack that took place in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir were brought to their native places. The deceased soldiers were identified as havildar Mandeep Singh, lance naik Debashish Baswal, lance naik Kulwant Singh, sepoy Harkrishan Singh and Sepoy Sewak Singh were attached with the army's Rashtriya Rifles unit and were deployed for counterterrorist operations in the area. Mortal remains of Sepoy Harkrishan Singh were brought to his native village in Gurdaspur.
Mortal remains of Havildar Mandeep Singh were also brought to his native village in Chankoian Kalan of Ludhiana district. The incident occurred after an Army vehicle they were travelling in was fired upon by terrorists in the Rajouri sector in Jammu leading to the death of five soldiers, and injuring another.
Mortal remains of Lance Naik Kulwant Singh were brought to his native village in Chadik village in Moga. At least 12 people were detained for questioning on Friday in connection with the deadly ambush of five army soldiers in the dense forest area of Bata Doriya in Poonch, even as a MI helicopter, drones, and sniffer dogs were deployed in a massive manhunt for the perpetrators of the attack.
Mortal remains of Sepoy Sewak Singh were brought to his native village in Bathinda’s Talwandi Sabo sub-division.
Debashish Baswal, who was also killed in the attack will reach his native place in Odisha on Saturday, a district administration official informed on Friday. The soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.
The Army paid tributes to its soldiers at a wreath-laying ceremony at a military camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri before their mortal remains were sent to their native places. In Charik village in Punjab's Moga district, Kulwant Singh's brother said the government and the Army should give a befitting reply to the attack.
Holding Kulwant's four-month-old son in his arms, he said his brother loved his family and had asked him to ensure timely vaccination of his son. Kulwant, who had recently visited his family, also leaves behind a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter and his wife. Former village head Bakshish Singh said the entire village is pained by the loss of their brave son but at the same time, is proud of the supreme sacrifice he has made for the country.
In Bagha village in Bathinda, Sewak Singh's elder sister's tears won't stop. A villager, who was among the mourners, demanded that the Army give a befitting reply to the "cowardly act" of terrorists. At Harkrishan Singh's house in Talwandi Barth village in Batala, villagers hailed his supreme sacrifice for his motherland.
Harkrishan had recently visited his family. Hours before he was killed, he spoke to his wife and two-year-old daughter on a video call, the villagers said. Mandeep Singh belonged to Ludhiana district. Similar scenes were witnessed at the house of Debashis Biswal's house in Khandayat Sahi of Alaguma panchayat in Odisha's Puri district.
"We are pained as well as proud that a son of our soil became a martyr. He was a great person and participated in all village events when he came home. He last visited the village four months ago," said Biswal's cousin Lalit Kishore Nayak, as quoted by PTI.
Biswal got married in 2021 and is survived by his wife Sushree Sangeeta and a seven-month-old daughter. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik condoled the loss of lives in the terrorist attack. "We received the very sad news of five soldiers being martyred in the incident (terrorist attack), out of which four were from Punjab," Mann told reporters in Moga, as quoted by PTI. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 crore each to the kin of the four soldiers from his state.