House Was Ready For Army Major To Move In, It Will Receive His Body Instead

Major Aashish Dhonchak, who was killed in the encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag, had planned to celebrate his birthday and the housewarming together next month.

He had finally managed to fulfil every middle-class Indian's dream and a three-storey house is standing ready in Haryana's Panipat, waiting for him and his family to move from their rented apartment. The housewarming party was supposed to happen on his birthday, October 23, but Major Aashish Dhonchak will never get to live in the new house. It will now receive his body instead.

Major Dhonchak, a decorated officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, was among the two Army officers and a police officer who died in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Wednesday. 

The construction of Major Dhonchak's house, in Sector 7 of Panipat, was finished recently and, on the eve of Independence Day last month, the officer had been awarded the prestigious Sena Medal. He had told his friends and family that he would come home on October 13 and they would have a grand party to celebrate the medal, his birthday and the housewarming on October 23.