JAMMU AND KASHMIR (2)
Havildar Ravi Paul (Jammu), Naib Subedar Karnail Singh (Samba)
Ravi and Karnail would have headed for Pathankot in a day or two with their regiment, the 10 Dogra. Ravi was due to retire next year. His sons Vansh, 11, and Kaka, 7, had already been admitted to school in Pathankot.
“My brother called his wife on Saturday evening and promised to visit us before heading for Pathankot,” Karnail’s brother Joginder said.
“The family was expecting gifts from him from Kashmir, but instead his coffin arrived.”
The eldest of Karnail’s three sons, Anmol, 18, said: “I shall join the army and avenge my father’s death.”
UTTAR PRADESH (4)
Sepoy Harinder Singh Yadav (Ghazipur), Sepoy Ganesh Shankar Yadav (Sant Kabir Nagar), Lance Naik Rajesh Kumar Yadav (Ballia), Sepoy Rajesh Singh (Jaunpur)
Harinder’s father Vinay has been rooted to the door of his home, a picture of his son in his lap, raging against the government’s “weak” policies.
“My son was excited when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. But the excitement had ebbed by the time he visited the village two months ago. He was angry that the government was doing merely lip service,” the farmer said.
Ganesh’s mother Kalawati said: “My son died because of politics. The political parties claim before elections they would teach Pakistan a lesson but start playing diplomatic games after grabbing power.”
All four soldiers were from the 6 Bihar regiment, which was to replace the 10 Dogra. They are all survived by young children.
MAHARASHTRA (4)
Sepoy Vikas Janba Uikey (Amravati), Lance Naik Sandeep Somnath Thok (Nashik), Lance Naik Chandrakant Shankar Galande (Satara), Sepoy Vikas Janardhan Kudmethe (Yavatmal)
“He didn’t tell us he had joined the army; we learnt about it months later from his friends,” said Janba, Vikas’ father and retired soldier who didn’t want his son to join the army.
“He told us in 2009 that he had joined a company in Mumbai,” mother Babybai said.
Sandeep had left a diploma course in pharmacy midway to join the army in 2014 and was to be married soon.
Chandrakant was to visit his home this month; he had joined the army four years ago, following in the footsteps of his two elder brothers.
All four soldiers were from the 6 Bihar.
THE CASUALTIES The soldiers who were killed in the attack on the army camp in Uri. The pictures, names and the home states were provided by the Northern Command of the Indian Army
BIHAR (3)
Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh (Bhojpur), Sepoy Rakesh Singh (Kaimur), Naik Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi (Gaya)
Ashok, 42, had applied for 20 days’ leave, promising to spend Durga Puja at home with wife Sangeeta — who had returned from Kashmir two days ago — and their two sons.
“Now I only hope the government will give a befitting reply to the attackers,” Sangeeta, who has been fainting intermittently, said from her hospital bed.
Ashok’s elder brother Kamta had died fighting the enemy on the Rajasthan border in 1989. Two of Kamta’s sons are in the army.
“Why should I mourn for my son, who sacrificed his life for the country?” said Rakesh’s father Harihar, a farmer.
All three soldiers were from the 6 Bihar.
BENGAL (2)
Sepoy Biswajit Ghorai (Ganga Sagar), Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui (Howrah)
Biswajit, 22, avid cricketer and political science graduate, had two immediate dreams: to get a tablet for sister Bulti and then to marry her off, perhaps after taking a loan.
“When he called on Saturday, he had asked his mother to scout for a good match for Bulti,” Subhas Pradhan, a relative, said at the slain soldier’s South 24-Parganas village.
Biswajit was posted to Uri just 17 days ago, 26 months into his army career, father Rabindranath, a day labourer, said.
He and Gangadhar’s father Omkarnath, resident of Jagatballavpur village, had the same question: Why would the army send such greenhorns to high-risk zones so early in their careers?
Both soldiers were from the 6 Bihar.
JHARKHAND (2)
Sepoy Naiman Kujur (Ranchi), Constable Jabra Munda (Khunti)
Naiman, 30, was going to the toilet when a grenade and a hail of bullets killed him.
“It will hurt me till I die that cowardly terrorists killed him when he was off guard,” Naiman’s wife Bina said, three-year-old son Abhishek by her side.
“Otherwise my husband would have given them hell. You don’t know how brave he was.”
One of Naiman’s brothers and a brother-in-law are in the army while two other brothers are with Jharkhand police
and the home guard.
Jabra, son of a rickshaw-puller, worked in a cement factory before joining the army in 2005. He leaves behind his mother, wife Jingi and three daughters aged 3, 10 and 13.
Both soldiers were from the 6 Bihar.
RAJASTHAN (1)
Havildar Nimb Singh Rawat (Rajsamand)
Rawat, earlier posted in Jalpaiguri, belonged to the 6 Bihar. He had come home for Raksha Bandhan in August and was to retire in 13 months, brother Raju said. He is survived by his wife, four daughters and a son.
Rawat’s father Krishan, a policeman, had fought in World War II and been imprisoned in Germany, family members said.
