Chandigarh/Jammu:
At a Chandigarh crematorium, friends and family of Colonel Bikramjit Singh gathered today for his last rites. Bikramjit lost his life in the terror attack by militants at the Samba army camp yesterday.
The family is devastated by the loss of their only son. His wife and eight-year-old daughter were in Samba with him. He was going home to them from the officer's mess when he was shot in the stomach.
His cousin told us that the family was still in complete shock and his mother particularly finds it hard to accept that he is no more. Friends who knew him spoke of how he was a loving son and would readily help out others.
In the village of Phallapur in Jammu, the family of Mukesh Kumar is in a similar state of shock. 23-year-old Mukesh was a special police officer - those who are not on permanent rolls and the lowest rung in the police hierarchy. Only four months into the job, Mukesh was killed by the militants in the Hiranagar police station attack.
His sister, Sudeesh Kumari tells us that the only weapon he had been given was a stick for his duty. For a salary of Rs 3000, he used to work for about 12 hours daily and had no formal police training.
His inconsolable mother repeatedly cries about how he wanted to serve the country by joining the police.
While the police has come under fire for not being able to contain the militant attack, deaths of young and untrained men like Mukesh are chilling reminders of the terrible working conditions of lower rung police and how ill equipped they are to tackle such attacks.
The family is devastated by the loss of their only son. His wife and eight-year-old daughter were in Samba with him. He was going home to them from the officer's mess when he was shot in the stomach.
His cousin told us that the family was still in complete shock and his mother particularly finds it hard to accept that he is no more. Friends who knew him spoke of how he was a loving son and would readily help out others.
In the village of Phallapur in Jammu, the family of Mukesh Kumar is in a similar state of shock. 23-year-old Mukesh was a special police officer - those who are not on permanent rolls and the lowest rung in the police hierarchy. Only four months into the job, Mukesh was killed by the militants in the Hiranagar police station attack.
His sister, Sudeesh Kumari tells us that the only weapon he had been given was a stick for his duty. For a salary of Rs 3000, he used to work for about 12 hours daily and had no formal police training.
His inconsolable mother repeatedly cries about how he wanted to serve the country by joining the police.
While the police has come under fire for not being able to contain the militant attack, deaths of young and untrained men like Mukesh are chilling reminders of the terrible working conditions of lower rung police and how ill equipped they are to tackle such attacks.
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