Bengaluru: The BEL PU College Grounds, where the mortal remains of the slain NSG commando Lt. Col E.K. Niranjan Kumar were kept, saw thousands of people – his friends, relatives, schoolmates, college mates, teachers and colleagues – paying their last respects on Monday.
Nearly 15,000 people, including army, air-force and navy personnel and NCC cadets, paid homage to the slain officer.
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Lt Col Kumar’s body reached the city around 11.30 pm on Sunday. It arrived in a military aircraft at the HAL airbase, and was shifted to the Command Hospital’s morgue. The formal paper work and procedures were completed and the body was handed over to the family around 7 am on Monday. It was then brought to the officer’s residence in Doddabommasandra in Vidyaranyapura, and from where it was taken to the BEL ground around 9.30 am in a military truck for the public to pay their last respects.
Niranjan’s wife Radhika sits next to his mortal remains
Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Union minister Veerappa Moily, MPs Rajiv Chandrashekar and P.C. Mohan, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda, and BJP leader S. Suresh Kumar were among those who arrived at the BEL ground.
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Mr Siddaramaiah said, “Lt Col Niranjan Kumar was one among the seven military personnel who laid down their lives for our country. The country has lost an efficient and young officer.”
Niranjan’s father with his daughter Vismaya
On the compensation, he said “Rs 30 lakh was granted to the family of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the NSG commando who was martyred during 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Lt Col Kumar’s family too will be suitably compensated.”
From the BEL Ground, the body was taken to the Jalahalli air base around 1 pm, amid his fellow officers shouting the slogan, “Lieutenant Colonel Niranjan sahib ki Jai”. The mortal remains were flown by a special military chopper to the family’s hometown Elambassery in Palakkad, Kerala, where it reached in the evening. The body will be kept in state in Palakkad on Tuesday and the last rites will be conducted later in the day, Lt Col Kumar’s family members said.
