3 soldiers from Punjab killed in Siachen avalanche cremated

Chandigarh, November 20 

The mortal remains of three army personnel, who were among the four killed after being hit by an avalanche in Siachen, were consigned to flames with full military honours at their respective native places in Punjab on Wednesday.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced a financial assistance of Rs 12 lakh each for the next of kin, along with a government job for one eligible member of each family.

Sepoy Veerpal Singh (21) was from Gowara village in Malerkotla in Sangrur, Sepoy Dimpal Kumar (21) hailed from Saidon village in Hoshiarpur while Naik Maninder Singh (28) was a resident of Fatehgarh Churian town in Batala, officials said.

According to a Punjab government release, Amarinder Singh condoled the death of the army jawans, saying their eternal sacrifice at 19,000 ft altitude in extremely cold conditions and against all odds had immortalised the men and their courage.

A group of eight persons, including six Army personnel, were struck by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,000 ft on Monday. Four army personnel and two porters were killed while two Army personnel survived the avalanche.

The fourth jawan—sepoy Manish Kumar (21) from Solan, Himachal Pradesh was cremated in his native village of Dochi in Arki tehsil earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the three jawans from Punjab arrived at their native places wrapped in the tricolour and a large number of people from all walks of life joined the grieving family members to pay tribute to the soldiers.

Dimpal Kumar, who was a bachelor, joined the Army in 2018 and is survived by his parents Parmila Devi and Jagga Singh, brother Paramjit Singh and sister Anita Devi.

Sangat Singh Gilzian, Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister, Mukerian MLA Indu Bala and senior officials of Hoshiarpur district administration laid wreath on the body before the last rites were performed.

Naik Maninder Singh (28) joined the Army in 2008 and is survived by his wife Akwinder Kaur and a five-year-old son named Ekamjot Singh.

At his cremation at Fatehgarh Churian town in Batala, chants of ‘Maninder Singh amar rahe’ reverberated in the air as the soldier’s family members and people from his native village paid floral tributes to him.

Maninder Singh’s funeral pyre was lit by his son.

“I am proud of my husband as he died for our great nation. He will be remembered as a great martyr. I want my son to serve the Indian Army as well,” Akwinder Kaur told media persons.

Several people including senior army and civil officers attended the cremation. Prominent among them were station commander of Tibri Cantonment, MLA Lakhbir Singh Lodinangal, and SDM of Batala, Balwinder Singh.

The cremation of sepoy Veerpal Singh was attended by SDM of Malerkotla, Vikramjit Singh. — PTI