Gehlot expresses grief over demise of Longewala battle hero Bhairon Singh

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday condoled the death of Nayak (retd) Bhairon Singh Rathore, the hero of the Longewala battle during the 1971 war.

The exemplary bravery of Rathore at the Longewala post during the battle can never be forgotten, Gehlot said, praying for the peace of the departed soul.

Rathore, a BSF veteran of the 1971 India-Pakistan war whose bravery at Rajasthan's Longewala post was depicted in Bollywood movie 'Border', died in Jodhpur on Monday.

He was 81.

Rathore was deployed at the Longewala post in the Thar desert of Jaisalmer, commanding a small BSF unit of six to seven personnel that was accompanied by a 120 men company of the Army's 23 Punjab regiment. It was the bravery of these men that decimated an assaulting Pakistani brigade and tank regiment at this location on December 5, 1971.