Daughter lights pyre as Lt Col Karanbir Singh Natt cremated with full military honours

The funeral pyre was lit by the eldest daughter of Lt Col Natt, Guneet, who is a student at Delhi University. Lt Col Natt’s sister also arrived from the US for her brother’s funeral.

He is survived by his wife Navpreet Kaur, and daughters, Guneet and Ashmeet.

A Brigadier from the HQs 11 Corps in Jalandhar laid a wreath on behalf of the Corps HQs while several other serving and retired Army officers were present on the occasion.

As the second-in-command (2IC) of the 160 Territorial Army Battalion (JAK Rifles), Lt Col Natt was leading a combing operation against terrorists holed up in Haji Naka village in Kupwara district, close to the Line of Control, on November 25, 2015.

Lt Col Natt had received grievous injuries to his face, particularly his lower jaw, when a terrorist holed up in a hut in the village fired upon him.

Doctors in the Military Hospital in Srinagar and later in the Army Research and Referral Hospital, New Delhi, had conducted frantic surgeries on him to save his life.

He was originally commissioned as a Short Service Commission officer in The Brigade of Guards in 1998. He served in the regiment for 14 years before being relieved from service in 2012. He joined the Territorial Army following his completion of service as a Short Service Commission officer.

The family of Lt Col Natt belonged to Dhadiala Natt village near Batala.