07-09-2008, 05:59 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Kabul victims Brig Mehta, Rao cremated </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi/ Hyderabad
The body of Brig Ravi Datt Mehta, India's Defence Attache in Afghanistan who was killed in the dastardly Kabul suicide bomb attack on the Indian Embassy on Monday along with IFS officer VV Rao, and two other Indians, were cremated here on Tuesday.Â
Despite a drizzle, Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor led mourners and wreaths were placed on behalf of the President of India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Defence Minister AK Antony.
Senior IFS officer Rao, was also cremated at the same site at Brar Square cemetery in the Delhi Cantonment later in the day.
<b>Heartrending scenes were witnessed at the cremation when Rao's 11-year-old son Karthick broke down while performing the last rites. The class VIII student wept inconsolably as he came forward to lit his father's funeral pyre. Tears gushed down his face even as his uncle, relatives and his father's colleagues tried to console him saying that his father "had laid down his life for the nation".
Rao's wife Malathi, a special instructor at a Sanskrit School in the Capital, and her daughter Amulya, a school student, also had their eyes wet throughout the hour-long funeral ceremony held at Brar Square cemetery at the Cantonement.</b>
Recalling his association with Mehta when he was heading the Udhampur-based Northern Command, Army chief told his grieving family, "We bid farewell to a fine soldier".
<b>Wife of the slain Brigadier, Sunita, and the children, Udit and Bhawiya, close relatives and associates of Mehta in the Army, though grief-stricken, maintained their poise at the funeral, as Udit, a flight lieutenant posted at Jodhpur, lit the pyre</b>.
Men of the Rajputana Rifles gave a 21-gun salute as bugles sounded the last post as Udit Mehta performed the last rites.
Earlier, Army officers handed over the Tricolour used for draping Mehta's coffin and his uniform to Sunita as a mark of respect to the gallant officer.
Udit Mehta later told mediapersons that his father had been his hero all along and would continue to remain one.
"My dad made the country proud. Rather than remember the end, I would remember him for how he lived," Udit said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal announced in Shimla that the State Government would honour Himachal-born Brigadier Mehta and ITBP soldier Roop Singh, who were among the two ITBP jawans who died in the bomb blast, reports PTI.
Dhumal said the State Government had great respect for Defence personnel and always worked for their welfare.
Brigadier Mehta was born in Kelyston estate, Bhrari, in Shimla. His father Shiv Dutt Mehta is a retired Himachal administrative service officer.
Roop Singh hailed from Dhaban village of Mandi district. His body was brought to his village on Tuesday and cremated in the village. He is survived by a son, a student of class VIII, a daughter who studies in class VI and wife Neera Devi (33).
Meanwhile, the death of Rao in the suicide attack in Kabul has left his home State Andhra Pradesh shocked and grief-stricken.
The news came as a bolt from the blue for his elderly parents in the coastal district of East Godavari. V Appalacharyulu (65) and Subhadramma (60) received the news of their eldest son's tragic death from their grand-daughter 11-year-old Amulya in New Delhi.
The parents, who were numbed by the news, left for New Delhi on Tuesday to attend the funeral. They were keenly waiting for their son's arrival next month to celebrate his 45th birthday. "He had promised to celebrate the birthday with us and take us to Delhi," a grief stricken Appalacharyulu told mediapersons before leaving Hyderabad for New Delhi.
"Our son was insisting for quite some time that we should move to Delhi and live with his wife and two children. But we were reluctant to move out of our hometown," said Subhadramma, who lives with her husband in a housing colony, five kms away from Rajahmundry town.
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Pioneer News Service | New Delhi/ Hyderabad
The body of Brig Ravi Datt Mehta, India's Defence Attache in Afghanistan who was killed in the dastardly Kabul suicide bomb attack on the Indian Embassy on Monday along with IFS officer VV Rao, and two other Indians, were cremated here on Tuesday.Â
Despite a drizzle, Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor led mourners and wreaths were placed on behalf of the President of India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Defence Minister AK Antony.
Senior IFS officer Rao, was also cremated at the same site at Brar Square cemetery in the Delhi Cantonment later in the day.
<b>Heartrending scenes were witnessed at the cremation when Rao's 11-year-old son Karthick broke down while performing the last rites. The class VIII student wept inconsolably as he came forward to lit his father's funeral pyre. Tears gushed down his face even as his uncle, relatives and his father's colleagues tried to console him saying that his father "had laid down his life for the nation".
Rao's wife Malathi, a special instructor at a Sanskrit School in the Capital, and her daughter Amulya, a school student, also had their eyes wet throughout the hour-long funeral ceremony held at Brar Square cemetery at the Cantonement.</b>
Recalling his association with Mehta when he was heading the Udhampur-based Northern Command, Army chief told his grieving family, "We bid farewell to a fine soldier".
<b>Wife of the slain Brigadier, Sunita, and the children, Udit and Bhawiya, close relatives and associates of Mehta in the Army, though grief-stricken, maintained their poise at the funeral, as Udit, a flight lieutenant posted at Jodhpur, lit the pyre</b>.
Men of the Rajputana Rifles gave a 21-gun salute as bugles sounded the last post as Udit Mehta performed the last rites.
Earlier, Army officers handed over the Tricolour used for draping Mehta's coffin and his uniform to Sunita as a mark of respect to the gallant officer.
Udit Mehta later told mediapersons that his father had been his hero all along and would continue to remain one.
"My dad made the country proud. Rather than remember the end, I would remember him for how he lived," Udit said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal announced in Shimla that the State Government would honour Himachal-born Brigadier Mehta and ITBP soldier Roop Singh, who were among the two ITBP jawans who died in the bomb blast, reports PTI.
Dhumal said the State Government had great respect for Defence personnel and always worked for their welfare.
Brigadier Mehta was born in Kelyston estate, Bhrari, in Shimla. His father Shiv Dutt Mehta is a retired Himachal administrative service officer.
Roop Singh hailed from Dhaban village of Mandi district. His body was brought to his village on Tuesday and cremated in the village. He is survived by a son, a student of class VIII, a daughter who studies in class VI and wife Neera Devi (33).
Meanwhile, the death of Rao in the suicide attack in Kabul has left his home State Andhra Pradesh shocked and grief-stricken.
The news came as a bolt from the blue for his elderly parents in the coastal district of East Godavari. V Appalacharyulu (65) and Subhadramma (60) received the news of their eldest son's tragic death from their grand-daughter 11-year-old Amulya in New Delhi.
The parents, who were numbed by the news, left for New Delhi on Tuesday to attend the funeral. They were keenly waiting for their son's arrival next month to celebrate his 45th birthday. "He had promised to celebrate the birthday with us and take us to Delhi," a grief stricken Appalacharyulu told mediapersons before leaving Hyderabad for New Delhi.
"Our son was insisting for quite some time that we should move to Delhi and live with his wife and two children. But we were reluctant to move out of our hometown," said Subhadramma, who lives with her husband in a housing colony, five kms away from Rajahmundry town.
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