Mortal remains of slain Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan Niraj Chetri, who was martyred in Jharkhand, were consigned to flame in his native village on Tuesday.
Thousands of mourners attended the funeral proceedings of Chetri who was killed in a Naxal attack in Jharkhand on Sunday.
It may be mentioned that the Assam Government on Monday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 20 lakh to the family members of the slain SSB jawan. His body was brought to his village on Monday.
Niraj Chetri, the son of Tika Bahadur Chetri and Ganga Maya Devi, had joined the SSB in 2014 and was a resident of Kaoripathar Karibil Nepali village in Gohpur in Assam’s Sonitpur district.
Another SSB personnel Constable Rajesh Rai was also seriously injured in the attack and has been airlifted to Jharkhand capital Ranchi.
According to police sources, state security personnel and paramilitary forces launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs at Taldengara village.
The Maoists then attacked the security forces and started firing on them. The security forces also retaliated, and a gun battle took place.
A security personnel lost his life and four others were injured, who were airlifted and brought to Ranchi for treatment. However, the Maoists managed to flee after the gun battle.
At least five ultras also suffered bullet injuries in the encounter, but they retreated into the forest of Taldangal where a search operation has been going on, Superintendent of Police Y.S. Ramesh said. The Maoists fired on the joint team of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and local police around 3:30 a.m. after noticing the personnel, who also retaliated.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das also paid homage to the slain trooper through the micro-blogging platform Twitter.
Keep following Inside Northeast on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram. Do download our app from the Google Playstore for the latest news updates, views, and entertainment on the go. We deliver the Northeast.