Dressed in an Army uniform, six-year-old son of Colonel Manpreet Singh saluted before his father’s mortal remains kept in the courtyard of their home in Punjab’s Mullanpur Garibdass. Standing near the body was his mother, unconscious. His sister was seen trying to console her. The family then goes near to the coffin in which Colonel Manpreet Singh’s body was kept.
The six-year-old then waved his hand over the coffin that contained his father’s body – probably trying to feel the presence of his father for last time. Col Singh’s two-year-old daughter was sitting in the lap of her mother, who seemed to be in a state of despair. A few women were seen standing on the roof of neighbouring homes, one of them held a tricolor.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the house of Colonel Manpreet Singh, who was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday. The encounter that started on the intervening night of September 12-13 is still going on. So far, four soldiers, including Col. Singh have laid down their lives.
#WATCH | Son of Col. Manpreet Singh salutes before the mortal remains of his father who laid down his life in the service of the nation during an anti-terror operation in J&K’s Anantnag on 13th September
The last rites of Col. Manpreet Singh will take place in Mullanpur… pic.twitter.com/LpPOJCggI2
— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2023
Amid chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, Colonal Singh was cremated with full state honours and accorded a guard of honour by his RR regiment he commanded.
Watch: Major Ashish Dhonchak gets cremated amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’
A highly decorated officer of the Indian Army, Manpreet Singh hailed from Bharonjian, a small village in Punjab on the outskirts of Chandigarh. He was posted in Kashmir with the Rashtriya Rifle and his tenure was about to end in four months.
Singh is survived by his mother, wife Jagmeet Grewal and two children – a six-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. His father, who died a few years ago, was also a retired Indian Army veteran.
In 2021, Manpreet Singh was decorated with the Sena Medal for Gallantry when he was a Lieutenant Colonel with the RR.