NEW DELHI: Condoling the demise of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Thursday assured government’s full support to the Siachen braveheart’s family.
“We are pained by this. After having survived for so many days buried under the snow, and now he is not with us. I would like to tell his family members that we are with them. I would like to pray that his soul rests in peace,” he told reporters here.
Meanwhile, expressing his grief over Madras Regiment soldier’s death, Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh said, “The soldier in him will continue to inspire generations”.
Hanamanthappa, who hailed from Betadur village in Kundagol taluk of Dharwad district, passed away at Army's Research and Referral Hospital at 11.45 a.m. today.
A medical bulletin released by Army's Research and Referral Hospital earlier today had said that Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, who was miraculously found alive after remaining buried under huge mass of snow for six days at the Siachen Glacier, slipped into deep coma despite ‘maximal life support with aggressive ventilation and dialysis’.
Lance Naik Hanamanthappa was flown to Delhi on Tuesday morning in a special air ambulance and admitted to the Army's Research and Referral Hospital.