3 Army personnel from Punjab killed in Siachen avalanche cremated

Chandigarh: The mortal remains of three army personnel, who were among the four killed after being hit by an avalanche in Siachen, were consigned to flames with full military honours at their respective native places in Punjab on Wednesday.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced a financial assistance of Rs 12 lakh each for the next of kin, along with a government job for one eligible member of each family.

Sepoy Veerpal Singh (21) was from Gowara village in Malerkotla in Sangrur, Sepoy Dimpal Kumar (21) hailed from Saidon village in Hoshiarpur while Naik Maninder Singh (28) was a resident of Fatehgarh Churian town in Batala, officials said.

According to a Punjab government release, Amarinder Singh condoled the death of the army jawans, saying their eternal sacrifice at 19,000 ft altitude in extremely cold conditions and against all odds had immortalised the men and their courage.

A group of eight persons, including six Army personnel, were struck by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,000 ft on Monday. Four army personnel and two porters were killed while two Army personnel survived the avalanche.

The fourth jawan-- sepoy Manish Kumar (21) from Solan, Himachal Pradesh was cremated in his native village of Dochi in Arki tehsil earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the three jawans from Punjab arrived at their native places wrapped in the tricolour and a large number of people from all walks of life joined the grieving family members to pay tribute to the soldiers.

Dimpal Kumar, who was a bachelor, joined the Army in 2018 and is survived by his parents Parmila Devi and Jagga Singh, brother Paramjit Singh and sister Anita Devi.