Thousands gather in Kolhapur to bid farewell to martyred soldier

Kolhapur, Maharashtra : Thousands poured on the streets of Kolhapur today as an army truck carried the mortal remains of 36-year-old Kundlik Mane, one of the five jawans killed by Pakistani troops in Kashmir, to his native village Pimpalgaon. As the truck moved slowly, the air reverberated with slogans glorifying the brave soldier. Some women waited for hours to perform aarti (prayers); people showered flowers on his body.

Naik Kundlik Mane of the Maratha Light Infantry is survived by wife and two children, aged eight and nine, and also aged parents. But none of them knew of the tragedy that had struck there family until Wednesday night.

While Mane and four other soldiers were killed early on Tuesday, it was only last night that villagers informed his parents, wife and children. Pradeep Raosaheb, a villager, told us why: ''We knew that the body will take some time to reach the village and so we did not want to keep the family waiting and so we deliberately informed them that Kundlik had just suffered injuries while fighting the enemy.''

Almost everyone from Mane's village, with a population of 3000, came to bid him final goodbye. State home minister R R Patil, some of his cabinet colleagues and top army officials were also present.

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Cries of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" filled the air as the gun salute reverberated before the funeral pyre was lit.

Four other soldiers who were killed - Lance Naik Shambhu Saran (29), Naik Prem Nath Singh (35), Sepoy Vijay Rai (27) and Lance Naik Raghunandan Prasad 23 - belonged to the 21 Bihar Regiment.

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