Uttarakhand mourns death of five soldiers in Kathua terror attack

Heartbreaking story of five soldiers from Uttarakhand killed in Kathua terror attack, leaving families devastated and nation mourning.

When Bharat Singh and Sumitra Devi, parents of 26-year-old Rifleman Anuj Negi, heard of his demise in the Kathua terror attack that took place late on Monday night, the first thing they did was switch off the television and ensure his wife Seema (23) was not told of his death. Seema and Anuj were married in November last year and she had hardly spent a couple of months with her husband, who returns home draped in a Tricolour. 

Negi was one among the five soldiers killed when a group of heavily-armed terrorists ambushed a patrolling party in the Badnota area in Jammu’s Kathua district on July 8. All five soldiers were with Uttarakhand’s Garhwal Rifles regiment.

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Speaking to The Hindu, Negi’s father said that he had been told the body of his son would be sent to Kotdwar by Tuesday night, and would reach his village, Dabriya in Pauri Garhwal, on Wednesday morning. Mr. Singh works as daily wager with the Forest Department; his wife is a homemaker.

“He was my only son and too young to die,” Mr. Singh said, trying to control his tears, adding that his daughter-in-law’s loss was far greater.

Grief pervades the house of Havaldar Kamal Singh from Papri village in Pauri Garhwal. He is survived by his elderly mother mother Sumita Devi, wife Rajni, and two daughters, ages three and five, all of whom are inconsolable.

Rifleman Adarsh Negi, 26, from Thati Dagar village in Tehri Garhwal district also lost his life in the attack. The youngest son of a farmer, Dalbir Singh Negi, his kin said Adarsh Negi always wanted to become an Army man and serve the country.