Thaindian News

By Sharat Pradhan
Unnao, April 7 (IANS) His uncle met a gruesome end in the ambush by the Maoists in Dantewala district of Chhattisgarh Tuesday. But this youth wants to join the paramilitary forces and wishes that his first posting is in the same state so that he could give a “befitting reply” to the Maoists.

“My uncle was my inspiration to get into the CRPF and I will be a brave soldier like him,” said Dinesh, the 22-year-old nephew of Central Reserve Police Force head constable Sushil Kumar Deepak.

“I wish I get my first posting in Chhattisgarh so that I could give a befitting reply to the militants who took away so many daring lives,” he said.

He said his uncle was always passionate about fighting the country’s enemy and was ever ready to lay down his life for the nation.

“He was the only man from Kurari-Kalan village (about 14 km from Unnao town and 65 km from Lucknow) to have opted for a daredevil’s life in India’s key paramilitary force,” points out Dinesh, who has resolved to avenge his uncle’s killing.

He sobbed but there was firmness in his voice and commitment in his assertion while his eyes were glued on the road where Sushil’s body was expected to arrive from Lucknow airport.

The bodies of 25 CRPF personnel, who were among the 76 killed in the Chhattisgarh attack, arrived at the Lucknow airport.

Of those killed, as many as 42 belonged to Uttar Pradesh.

Bodies of those hailing from eastern Uttar Pradesh were flown by a special aircraft from Jagdalpur to Lucknow, while the remaining ones were taken to Delhi, from where they were to be carried to their homes in western Uttar Pradesh.

While Dinesh looked all charged up, Sushil’s octogenarian mother Yashoda Devi looked somewhat disoriented due to the shock of her son’s death. She just went on calling him the “bravest” in the family.

For the hapless widow Sunita Devi, however, it seemed her entire world had collapsed.

Wailing and inconsolable, she was in no position to say anything. Her eyes were fixed on her two little children — nine-year-old Nikhil and seven-year-old Saumya, who were clearly oblivious of what had hit the family.