Anantnag encounter: Son salutes Col. Manpreet Singh, Punjab governor lays wreath as braveheart laid to rest with military honours

Mohali (Punjab): Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit laid a wreath on the mortal remains of Col. Manpreet Singh, who was among two senior Army officers killed in the ongoing gunfight with terrorists in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Colonel was laid to rest with full military honours at his native village — Mullanpur Garibdass — in Mohali on Friday.

The mortal remains of Col. Singh were brought to his residence earlier on Friday for the last rites. Visuals widely circulated on social media, showed soldiers, shouldering a coffin carrying the mortal remains of the slain Army officer, arriving at his native village for the sombre send-off. Locals gathered in numbers outside his residence to pay their last respects.

One of the clips from the tearful farewell showed Col. Singh's son saluting his father as he lay on the funeral pyre.  Former Indian Army chief, General (retd.) Ved Prakash Malik, also arrived at the residence of the slain Colonel to pay his latest respects.

Along with Colonel Manpreet, Major Dhonchak and DSP, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Humayun Bhat, also laid down their lives in the encounter that broke out on Wednesday, officials said.

The mortal remains of Major Aashish Dhonchak were brought to his residence in Panipat on Friday. Visuals showed soldiers bringing home the mortal remains of the slain officer in a coffin. The last rites of DSP Bhat were performed in Budgam on Wednesday evening.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, expressed grief over the death of the officers in the encounter while also paying tributes to the slain DSP at Budgam on Wednesday. In a separate encounter, two terrorists were gunned down by security forces in the Narla area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri on Tuesday.

Security forces said they recovered warlike stores, including medicines, with Pakistan markings during a search amid the encounter that carried over into Wednesday evening, according to officials.

The Army, along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, meanwhile, resumed the operation in the Kokernag area of the Anantnag district. (ANI)