Odisha bravehearts laid to rest

Tears  have not stopped rolling down the cheeks of Dibakar Prusty ever since the body of his 27-year-old son, Harekrushan Prusty was brought to his village on Friday morning.
Mortal remains of martyr Arun Kumar Nayak being taken in a procession to his house at Godisahi village in Dhenkanal district on Friday | Express
Mortal remains of martyr Arun Kumar Nayak being taken in a procession to his house at Godisahi village in Dhenkanal district on Friday | Express

JAGATSINGHPUR/KEONJHAR : Tears  have not stopped rolling down the cheeks of Dibakar Prusty ever since the body of his 27-year-old son, Harekrushan Prusty was brought to his village on Friday morning.


A software engineer by profession and a native of Padampur village in Jagatsinghpur district, Harekrushna had died in the landmine explosion at the Sunki-Salur road near Koraput’s Pottangi on Wednesday.

Mortal remains of Harekrushan Prusty  being
consigned to flames in Jagatsinghpur district
on Friday| Express


He worked as a software engineer in the SP office at Cuttack till he was transferred to SP office in Koraput in 2014.

Along with the security personnel, he was going to Angul from Koraput to attend a training programme when the landmine explosion occurred.


Harekrushna was the only earning member of his five-member family.

“He was my eldest son. He had telephoned me two hours before the Maoist attack to follow-up on his education loan and assured to repay it soon,” said Dibakar. Harekrushna had availed a loan of `2.60 lakh for his higher studies. His friends and local villagers recalled him as a polite person.


The mortal remains were brought to the village in a procession by locals and District Police at 7 am. SP, JN Pankaj paid tributes and Harekrushna was cremated with full State honours.


Locals demanded compensation for the bereaved family, job to one of his family members and exemption of his study loan by the State Government. Meanwhile, the district administration sanctioned Rs 10,000 from the red Cross funds to Harekrushna’s family for funeral expenses.


At Keonjhar, people’s representatives, district officials and senior police officers paid their last respects to the three martyrs, who died in the Sunki explosion. Subarna Raj (30), Sanjay Kumar Das (33) and Ganesh Prasad Saha (32) of the district died when the Maoists blasted a police vehicle using landmine. Bodies of the martyrs reached the District Police Reserve at 5.55 am on Friday and later taken to their respective villages. Prior to that the Collector, N Tirumala Nayak; SP, Rajesh Pandit; Keonjhar MLA Abhiram Naik and former MLA Mohan Charan Majhi were present. 


A resident of Banua village under Keonjhar Sadar police limits, Subarna was deployed in the Third Battalion of the Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) as a driver and had last visited his village in December, 2016.


Sanjay, son of Lochan Das of Chutiapasi village under Patana police limits, was a homeguard in the OSAP for over a decade. Ganesh was a resident of Gobindapur village under Nandipada police limits of Anandpur sub-division. 


As all three of them were the only earning members of their families, locals have demanded compensation and jobs for kin of the martyrs.

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