Colonel’s brother also with Assam Rifles, parents just back from Manipur visit

Subhash Tripathi (80) and wife Asha (70) had travelled from their hometown in Raigarh in east Chhattisgarh, to celebrate Diwali with the Colonel and his family, and left on November 7.

Colonel Viplav Tripathi, Commanding Officer of 46 Assam Rifles, and his wife. (Source: PTI)

COLONEL Viplav Tripathi’s parents had returned from visiting him in Manipur less than a week ago. Subhash Tripathi (80) and wife Asha (70) had travelled from their hometown in Raigarh in east Chhattisgarh, to celebrate Diwali with the Colonel and his family, and left on November 7.

The Tripathis are well-known in the area. Viplav’s grandfather Kishori Lal Tripathi was a part of the drafting committee of the Indian Constitution, while Subhash is a senior journalist and editor of a regional weekly based out of Raigarh. Asha is a social worker.

Friends say Viplav was humble and well-respected. For his wedding, the Bagpipers band of the armed forces came to Raigarh to perform, they recalled.

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Read | Assam Rifles CO, family among seven killed in Manipur ambush

Viplav’s uncle Rajesh Patnayak said the Assam Rifles officer hadn’t been able to get leave for Diwali. Since his younger brother Anay is also posted in Manipur with the Assam Rifles, as a Lieutenant Colonel, Subhash and Asha had decided to go to Manipur.

On Friday night, Anay arrived at Raigarh, driving down from Manipur on his way to Mhow, for training. “On Saturday noon, he was with me when he got the message from his friends in the unit that his brother along with his family had been killed,” Patnayak said.

Anay has gone back to Manipur and will be coming back with the bodies of the Colonel, his wife and son, friends said. The bodies are expected to reach by early Sunday morning.

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