KOLLAM: Sepoy Abhijith PS, a jawan attached to the Madras Regiment, died in a land mine explosion while on duty at the Line of Control (LoC) in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday. According to Army sources, he was killed during patrolling in Nowgam.
“At 8am on Monday, Abhijith called his mom and said he was fine and was leaving for duty and on the same day after 3pm, we received a call from his office saying he was killed in a land mine explosion,” said Santosh, Abhijith’s maternal uncle. A resident of Kizhakkathil Veedu at Alumoodu, Idayam, in Kollam, he joined the Army three and a half years ago.
He was appointed in Ooty first.
“He always wished to serve his nation by joining the Army. From school days, he was a very active and bright student,” said Santosh. “He last visited home a week before Onam for 20 days. We never knew that this would be his last visit,” he said.Abhijith is the only son of Prahladan, who is working in Saudi as a driver, and Sreekala, who is a housewife.
His sister Kasthuri, 21, has just completed graduation. The mortal remains of the soldier was brought to Trivandrum airport at 10.30 pm on Tuesday. The funeral will be held on Wednesday afternoon with state honours, after letting the public pay homage to Abhijith.