Full military honours for slain soldiers

It was a solemn moment as the bodies of the five Indian Army soldiers killed in an ambush by Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch region were brought here on Wednesday evening. Wreaths were placed on the coffins and the last bugle was sounded. The bodies of Naik Prem Nath, Lance Naik Shambu Saran, Sepoy Vijay Kumar Ray, Sepoy Raghunandan Prasad and Naik Pundalik Mane were accorded a ceremonial send-off by the army at the Palam air force base and will be cremated with full state honours at their home towns.

The five soldiers were killed when their attackers, including men in Pakistani military uniform, barged into Indian territory and ambushed an army patrol at Chakan-da-Bagh sector of the Line of Control (LoC), which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, early Tuesday morning. The bodies were flown to New Delhi from Jammu in the evening.

Army chief General Bikram Singh, who had tried to visit Poonch in the morning but had to cancel it due to bad weather, was present to receive the bodies at the Palam airport. Wreaths were placed on each of the five coffins, which were draped in the national flag. The bodies were then loaded on a transport plane for the final journey. Except for Mane who hailed from Maharastra, the other slain soldiers were from Bihar.