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PHOTOS: Goodbye, Major Dhaundiyal

Last updated on: February 19, 2019 18:54 IST

Major Vibhuti Dhaundiyal attained martyrdom in an encounter with terrorists in Pulwama in Jammu Kashmir.

'The war has come home to us'

IMAGE: Wife Nitika Kaul and other family members of Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhaundiyal, who lost his life in Pulwama encounter with JeM terrorists, pay their last respects to him ahead of his funeral in Dehradun. Photograph: PTI Photo

Thousands of people turned up on the banks of river Ganga in Haridwar on Tuesday to bid a tearful farewell to Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhaundiyal, who died fighting terrorists in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The mortal remains of Major Dhaundiyal were consigned to flames with full state honours at Kharkhari cremation ground. The funeral pyre was lit by the young officer’s uncle Jagdish Dhaundiyal in presence of his father-in-law M K Kaul, whose daughter he had married less than a year ago.

State Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik, Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi, Pradesh Congress in-charge Anugrah Nararan Singh and Congress MLA from Dharchula, Harish Dhami, were prominent among those who attended the last rites of the martyr.

IMAGE: Wife Nitika Kaul of Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhaundiyal, who was martyred in Pulwama encounter mourn near his mortal remains which were brought to his home in Dehradun. Photograph: PTI Photo

Before the last rites of the slain Major were performed in Haridwar, a huge crowd gathered at his residence on Nashville road in Dehradun in the morning to pay homage.

His mother Saroj, a heart patient, his wife Nikita Kaul and a number of relatives and friends were crying inconsolably as the Major's coffin was kept for people to pay their last respects at his residence.

WATCH: Major Dhoundiyal's wife bids farewell

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat placed a wreath on the coffin to pay tribute to the martyr as chants of “Shaheed Dhaundiyal Amar Rahein” and “Vande Mataram” rent the air.

IMAGE: Dhaundiyal's grandmother can't hold back her tears at the sight of her grandson's coffin. Photograph: PTI Photo

People climbed their rooftops and stood on either side of the road leading to the officer’s residence to witness the sombre scene with tears in their eyes.

The mortal remains were brought home in a coffin wrapped in the national flag late on Monday night.

IMAGE: Army personnel and people gather around the mortal remains of Major Dhaundiyal in Dehradun. Photograph: PTI Photo

The news of Major Dhaundiyal’s supreme sacrifice had come when Major Chitresh Bisht’s last rites were still underway in Haridwar on Monday.

Major Bisht, also a resident of Dehradun, was killed while defusing a mine near the Line of Control in Naushera sector of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.