HP: Soldier made supreme sacrifice in J&K anti-terror operation cremated in Sirmaur

Nahan, May 6 (PTI) The mortal remains of an Army paratrooper killed in an anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri were consigned to flames with full military honours in his native village in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday evening.

Pramod Negi was among five soldiers who lost their lives in an explosion triggered by terrorists on Friday in the thickly forested Kandi area in Rajouri where an operation is underway to flush out the ultras.

Earlier, his body was airlifted from Jammu and Kashmir along with that of another soldier, Ruchin Rawat of Uttarakhand, to Dehradun where Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami paid floral tributes to them.

Thousands turned up at Negi’s residence in Sirmaur’s Shillai village to pay their respects. Industry Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan, former BJP MLA Baldev Singh Tomar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Suresh Singha and other senior administrative and police officers of the district were among them.

Negi was unmarried. He is survived by his father Devendra Negi, mother Tara Devi, younger brother Nitesh Negi, who serves in the Army as well, and elder sister Manisha.

Negi was deployed in the Special Forces due to his excellent career for the past two years. He was conferred the ‘Red Cap’ honour recently due to his excellent capabilities as a paratrooper, secretary of the Ex-Serviceman Organisation, Paonta and Shillai, Narendra Thundu said.