Pathankot: 10 Paramilitary Captain Pawan Kumar, who was martyred in the ongoing encounter at Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir, was honoured with a wreath laying ceremony at the Indian Air Force Base at Pathankot on Monday, from where his body was flown to his hometown in Jind in Haryana.
The last rites of the martyred Captain will be conducted with full military honours today at his village in Jind.
The 23-year-old Captain was among the three army personnel from elite Para unit who lost their lives in the ongoing encounter with militants in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Army has appealed to the people of Haryana, hit by Jat quota stir, to extend support in giving a befitting farewell to this brave son of the soil.
‘No father can be prouder’, said 10 Para Army Captain Pawan Kumar’s father Rajbir Singh. “I had one child, I gave him to the Army and to the nation. No father can be prouder,” Singh said.
“Captain Pawan was martyred while he was leading his troops from the front. Indian Army officers always lead from the front as is evident from the operations here in Kashmir in the recent past. Captain Pawan was a young officer, son of a school teacher. He was a dynamic officer and a true commando. In fact, just last month, he was injured in an encounter in Pulwama just five days after his 23rd birthday. He was advised to go on sick leave, but he declined,” Lieutenant General Satish Kumar Dua told ANI.
Twenty-three-year-old Kumar succumbed to his injuries yesterday after he led a troop that stormed the EDI Complex on Saturday, in which two to three militants are believed to be holed up. The captain, who hails from Jind, Haryana, is from 10 Parachute Regiment and has been part of two successful operations in which three terrorists were killed.
Earlier today, the nation paid tribute to the sacrifices of 9 Paramilitary Army Captain Tushar Mahajan and Lance Naik Commando Om Prakash of 9 Para Regiment, who were also martyred during the ongoing encounter in Pampore as a wreath laying ceremony was held for the bravehearts in Srinagar.
26-year-old Captain Tushar Mahajan, who hailed from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir was leading his team in the ongoing operation in Pampore when he was martyred.
Lance Naik Om Prakash, whose team had closed in on the hiding terrorists, was also injured during the gunbattle and succumbed to his injuries later. He had been earlier awarded with the “Asadharan Suraksha Seva Praman Patra” by the Prime Minister of India on 15 Aug 2013 for gallantry in counter terrorist operations.
The 32-year-old late Lance Naik Om Prakash hailed from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters aged 7 and 3 years.
Meanwhile, the gunfight between security forces and terrorists entered the third day on Monday in Pampore, with the death toll reaching to seven till now including one terrorist.
The terrorists are holed up inside the multi-storeyed government complex of Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway in Pampore and operations are in full swing to neutralise them. (ANI)