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Jawans give the guard of honour to Srinivas Rao at Parvati Ghat on Tuesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad
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A jawan from Jamshedpur, who was deputed at Assam Rifles, was killed in a landmine blast during an anti-insurgency operation at Manipur on Sunday morning.
The body of 44-year-old Srinivas Rao, a resident of Shastrinagar in Kadma, was first flown to Calcutta from where it was brought to Jamshedpur in an ambulance late on Monday night. A senior officer of the 33rd Assam Rifles had accompanied Rao’s body from Manipur. He was cremated at Parvati Ghat with full state honour on Tuesday.
A Naib Subedar of 33rd Assam Rifles, Rao died while carrying out a search operation at Kumbi area in insurgency-hit Bishenpur district of Manipur. Seven jawans were injured in the landmine blast.
Rao is survived by his widow P. Padma and eight-year-old daughter P. Nikita.
According to sources, as Rao’s body arrived around midnight from Calcutta, it was kept at Golmuri police lines. On Tuesday morning, the body was taken to his house at Shastrinagar’s block No 4, from where the funeral procession left for Parvati Ghat. At the cremation ground, the slain jawan was accorded a guard of honour by the local army unit of Sonari.
“Around 19 army jawans gave the guard of honour. There were 20 mourners from the army too, beside six army officers, including myself,” Sonari army camp’s Col S. Kashyap, who led a contingent of armymen to Parvati Ghat, told The Telegraph.
Rao’s father P. Venket Rao, along with a large number of local residents and relatives, were also present at the cremation. Relatives said Srinivas had come to Jamshedpur on a 15-day leave in August and returned to Manipur on August 29. He joined duty from September 1.
“He was an amiable person, who would always meet neighbours with a smile on his face,” said a neighbour.
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