Five jawans from Rajasthan martyred

JAIPUR: "I do not have the courage to tell his kids that they have lost their father," said Pooran Singh, uncle of Jeet Ram, one of the five CRPF personnel martyred in the Pulwama attack on Thursday afternoon. Rajasthan, which is the state with the second highest casualties in the suicide attack, was engulfed in shock and grief.

While the families awaited the arrival of the mortal remains of their loved ones, protests and marches against the attack were held across the state. Condolences poured in from all sectors for the martyrs - Bharatpur's Jeet Ram, Rohitash Lamba from Shahpura, Hemraj Meena from Kota, Bhagirathi Singh from Dholpur, and Narayan Gujjar from Rajsamand.

Like Jeet Ram's uncle, Lamba's brother also could not bring himself to tell his family about the loss though he eventually broke the news to them on Friday afternoon.

The Rajasthan government condemned the attack and announced an ex gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the next of kin of all the five martyrs. Over and and above this, a compensation of Rs 25 lakh was also announced for each martyr. The government will also deposit Rs 3 lakh in a pension fund for the parents for monthly income. Additionally, government jobs will also be given to either the wife, son or unmarried daughter along with free higher education in government institutions. The children will also receive Rs 1,800 per month for school education and Rs 3,600 for college education. A landmark will also be named after the martyr. They will also be eligible for out of turn electricity connection for agriculture land and free travel on state roadways.

This is not the first attack in which soldiers from the state have been killed in action. Last month, CRPF personnel Mahesh Kumar Meena, from Sikar was an operational casualty after sustaining bullet injuries during the encounter at Tral, Pulwama. Till November 2018, 130 CRPF personnel were killed by militant attacks. Rajasthan has one of the highest numbers of personnel in CRPF apart from others states like Punjab, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.