'Army JCO killed in action in J&K's Kishtwar, wanted to rebuild house': Family

Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar, who was killed in action during a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar on Sunday, had wanted to rebuild his monsoon-damaged house, according to his family.

A junior commissioner officer (JCO) with the army's 2 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), Kumar was a resident of Barnog village in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.

Kumar's brother Karam Singh told PTI, “Our ten-room house was damaged during the monsoon last year and we were living in a rented house. Rakesh, who had come on a leave one-and-a-half months back, had promised to start the construction of the new house in January.”

The JCO is survived by his wife Bhanupriya, their children – daughter Yashshwini (13) and son Pranav (7) – and Bhati Devi, his 90-year-old mother.

The helicopter carrying the braveheart's body arrived in Mandi on Monday evening; however, the last rites could not be held as it got dark. The mortal remains have been kept in the mortuary of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College and the cremation will take place on Tuesday, officials said.

Meanwhile, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri both shared their ‘deep sorrow’ over Kumar's martyrdom.

“The nation will forever honour the ultimate sacrifice of the brave soldier,” the statement quoted Sukhu as saying.

“The nation and the state will always be indebted for the selfless and supreme sacrifice of this brave son,” Agnihotri said.

The encounter that led to the death of Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar was with a group of terrorists involved in the abduction and killing of two village defence guards (VDGs) in Kishtwar on Thursday last week.

Three soldiers were also injured during the anti-terror operation.