The news of young Indian Army officer Major Chitresh Bisht getting killed in Jammu and Kashmir has left his hometown Dehradun in shock. Major Bisht died while defusing an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri in J&K on Saturday.
As the news spread, family friends, relatives and others turned up at SS Bisht’s residence in Nehru Colony of Dehradun in large numbers.
Major Chitresh Bisht was fondly called “Tiger” by his friends and fellow officers. The death of the officer has completely shattered the Bisht family that was busy preparing for his wedding scheduled to be held in the first week of March.
The martyred officer’s body arrived in Dehradun on Sunday and has been kept at the Military Hospital. His last rites will take place at Haridwar with military and state honours on Monday.
READ | Army, IAF officers pay tributes to martyred Indian Army Major
In an emotional voice and moist eyes, Chitresh’s father SS Bisht, a retired police inspector, said: “He was in a hurry. (He) took birth early, at seven and a half months, and began walking by ten months. He even went early.”
He added: “I will always regret that I failed to perform the wedding of my son.”
The family had distributed most of the invitation cards.
Major Bisht was top return home on 28 February for the wedding.
“I salute the supreme sacrifice made by Major Bisht in the service of the nation and send my heartfelt condolences to the martyr’s family. The entire country stands with them in this hour of grief,” said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Governor Baby Rani Maurya and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat also condoled Major Bisht’s death.
The 31-year-old died on Saturday when an IED planted by Pakistani troops on the track on the Indian side of the Line of Control exploded in the Naushera sector of Rajouri.
Mines were detected on the track around 3 pm, during a sanitisation operation. Major Bisht, leading the Bomb Disposal Team, defused one of the mines successfully. While neutralising another, the device got activated. The officer suffered grievous injuries and succumbed to them.
Senior Army and IAF officers paid tributes to Major Chitresh Bisht on Sunday as wreath-laying ceremonies were held in Rajouri and Jammu before his body was flown to Dehradun.