Odisha govt increases ex-gratia of slain soldiers from state

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday enhanced the ex gratia to families of two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers, killed in Jammu and Kashmir to Rs 25 lakh each from Rs 10 lakh. Patnaik also said the state government will bear all education expenses of the martyrs' children.

CRPF troopers Manoj Kumar Behera of Ratanpur in Cuttack and Prasanna Sahu of Shikhar village in Jagatsinghpur district were killed in terror attack in J&K's Pulwama district on Thursday. The schools where Behera and Sahu studied would be named after them. Their "gram panchayats" will be declared Model Gram Panchayats, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.

The martyrs were given the 'guard of honour' here on Saturday. Leaders cutting across party lines and senior police officials paid their tributes to the martyrs after the bodies arrived in a special flight at the Biju Patnaik International Airport.

Along with Chief Minister, Union ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan, Odisha ministers Sashi Bhusan Behera and Pratap Jena also paid tributes to the slain CRPF personnel. The last rites of martyrs will be performed with full state honour at their native places on Saturday. Following the Chief Minister's direction, schools across Odisha observed a two-minute silence to offer their tributes.

(With inputs from agencies.)