Brave Army Colonel killed in Kashmir encounter cremated

Colonel Munindra Nath Rai, who was the commanding officer of 42 Rashtriya Rifle, was cremated in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The colonel died almost a day after he was given gallantry award on the Republic Day.

He was awarded the Yudh Seva medal.

Army said his quick thinking killed the terrorist in Tral and saved other lives.

His Whatsapp status few weeks back was "Make your role so worthy in life that people applaud even after the curtains."

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 30 lakhs ex-gratia to the family of the martyr. He hailed from Ghazipur district of the state.

During the encounter, the Colonel was injured and shifted to the 92 Base Camp hospital at the Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar. He later succumbed to his injuries.

Following the incident, National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: "My heartfelt condolences to the families & colleagues of Col Rai & the 2 jawans of the Army as also of Constable Singh of JK Police."

"Martyred in the line of duty in Tral today. A grim reminder of the costly sacrifices militancy in J&K continues to demand of our men RIP," he added.

The encounter broke between the terrorists and an Army unit as well as local police after the latter launched a search operation in Mindora village of Tral.

The search operation was launched after security forces got a tip off that a local Hizbul terrorist along with another accomplice had come home, media reports said.

According to reports, two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were also killed in the encounter.