DHENKANAL: The final rites of Army havildar Saroj Das, who died in the Sikkim flood on Tuesday night, could not be performed as his body has not yet reached his native village Kendudhipa in Dhenkanal.Dhenkanal SP Gyanaranjan Mohapatra said the funeral rites would be conducted after the body arrives at the village on Saturday. The last rites would be conducted with full state honours, he added.
The body was on Friday flown to Kolkata for postmortem after which it was taken to New Delhi. “The body will arrive at Bhubaneswar airport on Saturday afternoon where dignitaries will pay tribute. It will then be taken to Kendudhipa village for cremation,” the SP added.
On Tuesday, Saroj along with 23 others of 620 Battalion of Corps of EME had gone to Sikkim for their annual military exercises when their vehicles got trapped in a cloudburst at Baradang near Singtam. Later, the Army authorities informed Saroj’s family members of his death and provided them with his photo for identification.Saroj is survived by his parents, two older siblings and a wife.