Palakkad: Lieutenant-Colonel Niranjan E. Kumar, who was killed during the army operation against terrorists at Pathankot Air Base in Punjab on Sunday, was given a tearful farewell on Tuesday. He was cremated with full state honours at his ancestral home at Elampulasserry by 1. 45 p.m.
Earlier, thousands of people from all walks of life paid their last respects to the Army officer as his body was kept at Elampulasserry KAUP school. Covered in tricolour, the body was taken out from his ancestral Kalarikal house to the school at 7 a.m. Along with the Kerala police, different wings of the armed forces gave a guard of honour to him. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala representing the state government placed a wreath on the body. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy visited Elampulasserry on Monday night to share the grief with the family members, including Niranjan’s wife K.G. Radhika and their two-year-old daughter.
Niranjan’s father K.R. Sivarajan, who was an assistant manager with Bharat Electronics in Bangalore, said that though his son’s death was a great tragedy, he was proud of him for sacrificing his life for the country. His relatives said that right from his childhood, he was keen on joining the defence forces. He was about to return from the NSG, where he was on deputation, to the Madras Engineer Group (MEG) in Bangalore.
