Security forces personnel during a military encounter, in Anantnag district
Credit: PTI Photo
Havildar Deepak Kumar was among the two soldiers who were killed in the Saturday encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag. His father has now urged the Narendra Modi government to take care of Deepak's wife and son, The Indian Express reported.
"How long will fathers like me keep losing their sons?," asked Suresh Rai, Deepak's father, who is a farmer and resident of Bihar's Lavwan Kalan village in Baniapur.
Deepak, 34, had reportedly joined the Army in 2008 and his elder brother, Devendra, is with the forces as well. Deepak is survived by Anita, his wife, and their nine-year-old son.
The publication reported that he had last visited the village two months back.
"I have lost my son. I will be going to Patna on Monday with some members of the family to receive the mortal remains of my martyr son," the grieving father further told the publication.
He also added "Deepak hardly had any savings. He would send me money off and on as he had his family responsibilities as well. He wanted to build a good pucca house at the village, but he hardly had money for it," as per IE.
The father, who just has around two bighas of agricultural land, said that the Central government should have a long-term approach to deal with the militancy problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
Security forces on Sunday had intensified their operation to flush out terrorists from the forest area of Anantnag district.
Officials said additional personnel were rushed to the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area to eliminate terrorists -- believed to be three to four in number.
"The operation is going in the upper reaches of Gagarmandu. An intensive search operation is going on... Further details will be shared after the operation is over," Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone V K Birdi told reporters near the encounter site in Kokernag.
With PTI inputs