Tohra cremated with state honours in native village

Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee president and veteran Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who died in Delhi on Wednesday night, was on Friday cremated in Tohra village in Patiala district with full state honours.

Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat led the people in paying tributes to Tohra whose pyre was lit by his son-in-law Harmail Singh Tohra. The veteran leader does not have a son.

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The others present included Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Vinod Khanna and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his ministerial colleagues, Congress general secretary Ambika Soni and SAD president Parkash Singh Badal. The chief minister met Badal at the cremation site.

The state cabinet had, at a meeting held earlier in Patiala, expressed grief at the passing away of Tohra.

The 79-year-old Akali leader died in Delhi's Escort Heart Institute within hours of being airlifted from Amritsar where he was admitted last week after two heart attacks in succession when he was participating in the kar seva (voluntary service) launched for the cleaning of the sarovar (tank) of the Golden Temple.