Daughter of CRPF Jawan killed in Pulwama, faints during funeral procession in UP

The 10-year-old daughter of a CRPF jawan, who died in a suicide attack in Pulwama, fainted during his funeral in Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Supriya, Pradeep Singh Yadav's daughter, was rushed to a hospital for primary treatment and was discharged after an hour.

Yadav's other daughter, a two-and-a-half-year-old kid, appeared unaware of the developments around her, as people raised slogans praising the courage of her father. Yadav was one of the 40 CRPF men killed when a member of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist group rammed his explosives-laden vehicle in the bus he was travelling to Kashmir Valley to join duty.

The atmosphere was similarly sombre during the funeral of the other CRPF jawans in Maharajganj, Agra, Mainpuri, Unnao, Kanpur Dehat and Chandauli districts in the state. Tens of thousands of people across Uttar Pradesh raised slogans praising the bravery of the fallen soldiers and hailing the mortherland.

The soldiers' families demanded the ministers and administration officials attending the funerals to bring the people responsible for the ghastly attack to justice. In Kanpur Dehat, the slogan "Shaheed Shyam Babu Amar Rahe" was raised as his mortal remains were consigned to flames by his brother, Kamlesh, in their native village Nonari.

Babu's family demanded that Pakistan be given a befitting reply for the attack. Union minister Smriti Irani, who represented the Union government at the funeral, consoled the family and said the prime minister has promised the nation that the perpetrators of the attack will be punished. The deaths of the jawans will not go waste, she stressed.

A road in the area is being named after Shyam Babu, officials said. Government officials, politicians and the thousands of members of the general public joined the funeral procession of soldier Kaushal Kumar Rawat in Karhari village in Agra.

Rawat's final journey began at 9 am and his daughter Apoorva, who works in an airline company in Delhi, hoped her father's sacrifice would not go in vain. Members of the family have offered land in the village for a memorial for Rawat.

Rawat was posted in Siliguri in West Bengal and was transferred to Srinagar, where he would have joined duty on Thursday. Agra city observed a 'bandh' against the Pulwama tragedy. Shops and other businesses remained closed and people took out rallies, raising slogans against Pakistan.

In Deoria district, slain CRPF jawan Vijay Maurya's wife Vijay Laxmi demanded that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister visit the family and only then she would allow the funeral to take place. UP minister Anupama Jaiswal and other leaders tried to convince her but she refused.

In Unnao, CRPF jawan Ajit Kumar Azad's mortal remains were consigned to flames by his brother Ranjit. As soon as his body reached his home in Loknagar area, residents gathered to pay their last respects and raised anti-Pakistan slogans. People showered flower petals on the roads during Azad's final journey.

In Maharajganj, the last rites of CRPF constable Pankaj Tripathi were done at Trimohan Ghat in Harpur Bailhiya village. When Tripathi's body, draped in tricolour, reached his village, Harpur Bailhiya, people followed it to his home and raised slogans — "Pankaj Tripathi Amar Rahe" — in his praise.

"My son was coming soon to meet me, but it seems that something else was written in my fate. Now I can never meet my son," his mother said, struggling to hold her tears. Tripathi's brother Subham said, "Time has come to take revenge."

Union Minister Shiv Pratap Shukla assured the villagers, "India will give a befitting reply to Pakistan's cowardly act." "We have ended our trade ties with the country and soon the prime minister will take more actions," Shukla said referring to India's withdrawal of the Most-Favoured Nation status to Pakistan.

In Mainpuri, CRPF jawan Ram Vakeel's son consigned his mortal remains to flames amid slogans praising his courage. UP minister Satydev Pachauri and police and administration officials attended the funeral in Azad's native village Vinayakpur.

In Chandauli, Awadhesh Yadav's last rites were done on the banks of the Ganges. His father, Harikesh Yadav, lit the funeral pyre. Awadhesh Yadav, a native of Bahadurpur village, had returned to join his duty three days before the attack.

His mother has cancer and he is survived by wife and a son. Uttar Pradesh BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey, the Lok Sabha MP from Chabdauli, visited the residence of the martyred soldier and paid his tributes. The state government has announced Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia each and a job to one family member of the 12 CRPF personnel from the state killed in the attack.

(With inputs from agencies.)