An army soldier died at a hospital here after he sustained head injuries during stone-pelting by a group of youths, an official said Friday.
“Sepoy Rajendra Singh was part of a quick reaction team which was providing security to a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) convoy on Thursday. At around 1800 hrs, when the convoy was passing through the Anantnag bypass tri-junction near NH-44, few youths hurled stones at the vehicle and Singh was injured after being hit by a stone directly on the head,” the army official said.
He said Singh was provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 base hospital in Srinagar where he succumbed.
A resident of Uttarakhand’s Badena village, Singh had joined the army in 2016 and is survived by his parents.
The army Friday paid tributes to him and two other soldiers—lance naik Brajesh Kumar, sepoy Ngamsiamliana—who were killed in separate anti-militancy operations in Kashmir, the official said.
“In a solemn ceremony at Badamibagh cantonment here, general officer commanding of Chinar Corps of the army, Lt Gen A K Bhatt and all ranks paid homage to the slain soldiers,” the official said.
Director general of police Dilbag Singh and representatives from various security agencies also joined in paying the last respects to the soldiers, he said.
Kumar (32) sustained splinter injuries during a fierce operation against militants in Baramulla district’s Sopore area on Friday. Two militants were also killed in the operation, the official said.
A native of Himachal Pradesh’s Nanawin village, Kumar had joined the army in 2004. He is survived by his wife and a daughter, he added.
Ngamsiamliana was killed on Thursday during an attack on an army camp in Luragam village of Tral in Pulwama district, the official said.
He hailed from village Rengtekawn in Mizoram and had joined the army in 2013. He is survived by his parents, the official said.