Major Chitresh Singh Bisht ‘amar rahe’! India bids tearful adieu to Nowshera martyr

‘How’s the josh? High Sir!’, ‘Major Bisht Amar Rahe’ - The air was electrified with such chants as sea of humanity thronged Uttarakhand capital Dehradun to pay last respects to Major Chitresh Bisht, who was killed while diffusing an IED in Jammu and Kashmir’s Nowshera. His mortal remains were brought to his Dehradun home on Sunday. The Major's body was brought to the Jollygrant airport in an army aircraft from where it was taken to the military hospital Dehradun where it will be kept till Monday when the last rites will be performed.

Major Bisht, 31, was leading a bomb disposal squad team for sanitisation when mines were detected on the track in Naushera sector around 3 pm, a defence spokesman had said Saturday.

He said the team defused one of the mines successfully but while neutralising another mine, the device got activated and the officer suffered grievous injuries and attained martyrdom, he had said.

 

#WATCH Slogans of 'Amar Rahe' raised as people pay last respects to Major Chitresh Singh Bisht in Dehradun. He lost his life on 16 Feb while defusing an IED which was planted by terrorists across the LoC in Rajouri's Naushera sector in J&K. Uttarakhand CM also present. pic.twitter.com/cjD5JYUi1h

— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2019

Bisht's home at Nehru Colony which was eagerly awaiting his arrival later this month for his marriage slated for March 7 was plunged into mourning as the sad news arrived on Saturday evening.

Friends and relatives kept streaming into his home throughout the day to comfort his distraught parents.

Prominent among those who came to commiserate with the family since Saturday night were Pradesh BJP president Ajay Bhatt, senior party leader Tirath Singh Rawat and party MLAs Vinod Chamoli and Umesh Sharma Kau.

"I salute the supreme sacrifice made by Major Bisht in the service of the nation and send my heartfelt condolences to the martyr's family. The entire country stands with them in this hour of grief," Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said in a tweet.

Hailing from Ranikhet in Almora district, Bisht's parents live in Dehradun. His father SS Bisht is a retired policeman and his mother a housewife.

His marriage was slated for March 7 and he was to come home on February 28, sources close to the family said.

Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya and former chief minister Harish Rawat have also condoled the death of Bisht.