Kolkata: The mortal remains of two Indian Army soldiers from West Bengal, who were killed in a violent face-off with the Chinese Army, were given the final send off at their respective villages on Friday with full military honours as hundreds of people joined their families in paying their last respects.
The two bravehearts - Havaldar Bipul Roy and Sepoy Rajesh Orang, were among the 20 Indian Army personnel killed in a hand-to-hand fight with China's People's Liberation Army in the daunting heights of Galwan valley in Ladakh on June 15. The mortal remains of Sepoy Orang reached his village at Belgoria in Birbhum district on Friday morning. The Army cortege arrived from Panagarh military hospital, where the mortal remains of Sepoy Orang were kept for the night after a military aircraft brought them from Leh via Chandigarh on Thursday evening, an Army spokesperson said. Army personnel carried the coffin to the house of Orang, where his family members broke down.
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People gathered at the village called for a total boycott of China-made goods while expressing their anger at China's People's Liberation of Army's brutal attack on the Indian soldiers. Orang is survived by his parents and two sisters. The mortal remains of Orang were laid to rest at a place near their house with full military honours, including a gun salute by the Army personnel who accompanied the cortege to his home, after people paid their respects to the slain hero. A contingent of the West Bengal Police also gave a gun salute to the son of the soil.
In the evening, Havaldar Bipul Roy's mortal remains reached his house at Bindipara village in Alipurduar district in North Bengal. The slain soldier's widow and five-year old daughter, who live in Meerut, arrived along with the cortege bearing Roy's coffin. Hundreds of people lined the national highway from Hasimara Military Hospital to the village, paying their last respects with flowers. The coffin was laid on a stage erected by Roy's friends and other villagers, where people coming from surrounding villages paid their last tributes. A composed Niren Roy, the father of the slain soldier said: "I am proud of my son".The mortal remains were cremated on the banks of River Gadadhar near the village with full military honours, including a gun salute.
PTI report
