A last call before line got cut, an unanswered call on fateful morning – tale of kin left behind

Subedar Rajendra Prasad, Riflemen Manoj Kumar, D Lakshmanan and Nishant Malik were killed on Thursday. (PTI)

At T Pudupatti village, in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district, Rifleman D Lakshmanan’s twin brother, Ramu, said they both wanted to join the forces and had worked hard to prepare for the recruitment process. “Lakshmanan alone cleared the recruitment. We were proud of him…” Ramu told media.

Rifleman Manoj Kumar, from Shahjahanpur village in Haryana’s Faridabad district, had joined the Army two years ago. Youngest of four siblings in the family, Kumar got married in November 2021, Sube Singh, spokesperson of Faridabad police, said. Kumar’s family was informed about his death early Thursday morning, Singh added.

For four families in three different corners of India, life suddenly lost meaning on Thursday with the soldiers’ death in a militant attack at an Army camp in J&K’s Rajouri district.

Back in Maligaon village, in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, Bhamboo’s brother said he was due to retire in February 2023. “He was also to be promoted before that. He had come home for a month, before returning to J&K…. His daughter was supposed to get married in March next year, after his retirement,” Rajesh said.

“My father,” Rajesh said, “is 80 years old. He was in the Army, and had served in the Jat regiment…. I haven’t mustered the courage to share the news with my parents.”

Bhamboo is survived by two daughters and a son.

Rifleman Malik’s family friend Ranbir said Nishant’s father, Jaivir Malik, was also in the Army and had “received bullet injuries during Kargil war”. Nishant, he said, had joined the Army around two-and-a-half years ago. “In July, he had appeared for his BA final year exam and returned to his unit on July 18,” Ranbir said.

Nearly 2,700 km away, in the southern corner of India, Rifleman Lakshmanan’s brother said the body is expected to arrive in the village on Saturday. After Lakshmanan left to join the forces, Ramu said, “I decided to support our parents, Dharmaraj and Andal, take care of our farmland.”