BELAGAVI: Twenty-five-year-old soldier Sagar Appasaheb Banne of Benadi village near Belagavi, who was killed when a group of assailants opened fire at a military camp at Bathinda in Punjab on Wednesday, was supposed to get married shortly.
Sagar was supposed to come home in the next few days. His parents were looking for a bride for him. When he was preparing to pack his luggage, he fell prey to the bullets of the assailants.
According to sources, Sagar had applied for leave and was supposed to reach his village on April 18. Son of Appasaheb Banne, a shepherd from Bennadi, Sagar lived in poverty with his family dependent on the earnings of his father from grazing sheep. A pall of gloom descended on Bennadi as soon as the news of his death reached the village on Thursday.
After completing his primary education at Bennadi and getting a degree from VSM College, Nipani, Sagar joined the Indian Army. He was selected at a recruitment camp at Raichur in 2018.
Shops down shutters in martyr’s honour
After training at Nasik, he was posted in Bhatinda, sources said. His body is expected to reach the village late Thursday or Friday and will be taken out in a procession before the last rites. As a mark of respect, all business establishments in the village remained closed on Thursday. Sagar is survived by his parents, a brother and a sister.
Another soldier, Santosh Mallappa Nagral (24) from Hanamkeri village in Badami taluk, was also killed in the attack. He was selected at a recruitment rally held in Gadag in 2019. He is survived by his mother and two brothers.