Gaya, Dec. 6: Lieutenant colonel Sankalp Kumar, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday was set to be designated as a Colonel in the Indian Army next month.

The officer had taken bullets earlier as well in 2004 while fighting ULFA terrorists in Assam. He had joined the army in 1999. In 2010-11, he was part of the Indian peace army deployed in Africa.

His wife Priya has rushed to Delhi. His father-in-law P.N. Tiwari, retired professor of history at Patna College and coordinator in history department of Nalanda Open University, said: 'He was fond of accepting challenges. He had a passion to help others and hence he joined the forces.'

The only son of Shailendra Kumar Shukla, an engineer in Central Coalfields Limited, was a resident of Tekari in Gaya. Sankalp's father had shifted to Ranchi because of a job posting and settled there. His great grandfather was the family doctor of the king of Tekari and his grandfather was the postmaster general at Patna General Post Office.

'My daughter Priya alias Ruchi has first-class PhD and MEd degrees. She does not want to take up a job till her two daughters Sara (7) and Manna (4) grow up,' Tiwari said. He added: 'The government should provide a lecturer's job to Priya in a government teachers training college in Bihar or Jharkhand. Priya lives in the army quarters at Danapur cantonment. His daughters study in the army school.'