Agartala bids adieu to BSF jawan martyred in Kashmir

AGARTALA: The body of slain BSF jawan Sudip Sarkar was brought in a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force to the city on Tuesday, after which his last rites were performed with full state honours.

Senior BSF officials held a wreath-laying ceremony to pay tributes to Sudip at the Agartala airport.

According to reports, Sudip, along with three Indian Army soldiers, was killed while fighting three terrorists in a gun fight in the early hours on Sunday.

A terrorist was shot dead by the BSF while others succeeded to flee.

Constable

Sudip suffered grievous injuries in the attacks and died.

Sudip had been serving in the 169th battalion of BSF since 2000 and was posted in Machil sector of Kupwara in Kashmir two months ago. He is survived by his mother, wife, two daughters and an elder brother serving in Tripura State Rifles.

Dipankar Sarkar

, the elder brother of the deceased, said Sudip was accorded a promotion recently and he was in the process of applying for

VRS

after completing 20 years in service. The mother and the wife last spoke with Dipankar on Saturday evening before he had left for duty at the LoC.

“My father was scheduled to come home on leave after Diwali for two months, as he did not visit home us since March following the outbreak of Covid-19. Recently, he was posted in North Kashmir at the LoC with a promotion from Punjab. Today, he returned home, but in a coffin,” said Sudip’s elder daughter Shubhra Sarkar, a student of Class VIII at a central school in Cooch Behar.

Chief minister Biplab Deb, deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma, leader of the opposition Manik Sarkar expressed their condelonces at Sudip’s death. “I am saddened at learning about the supreme sacrifice of the brave son of Tripura Sudip Sarkar... we pray to the almighty to give courage to the bereaved family to overcome the shock. We are with them,” Deb said.