Relatives demand body of soldier killed in South Sudan

GURGAON: Relatives of the Indian soldier, Subedar Kanwar Pal Singh, who was killed in recent violence in South Sudan, staged a 'rasta roko' on Gurgaon-Alwar state highway on Sunday afternoon, demanding that the body be brought back to India and handed over to them for last rites.
Singh, a resident of Bhondsi village, was one of the two Indian peacekeepers killed in an ambush in South Sudan recently.His family members have been waiting for the body for the last rites. To push authorities into action, they staged a 'rasta roko' at around 2.10pm, holding traffic for nearly half an hour, protesting against the government's apathy.
"Not a single minister or senior officer has visited us yet.
We are not even being told when can we get the body for last rites," said Singh's brother Ram Kishan Raghav.
The situation diffused after deputy commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi reached the spot, holding talks with the agitators and assuring them that the body would be handed over by Monday latest.
"Many soldiers of the Indian army belong to our village and we have never stopped our sons from joining the service. But this attitude is shocking. The authorities have neither acknowledged the death, nor have they made any efforts to bring back the martyr. However, we have been promise today that the body would be returned to us by Monday, failing which, we will protest more intensively," said an agitator.