The funeral of Lance Naik Pritpal Singh and Sepoy Harminder Singh, who were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam, was held with full military honours at their native places in Punjab on Sunday.
The two soldiers were killed in an overnight gunfight with terrorists on the ninth day of an ongoing encounter in Kulgam district on Saturday. The encounter began on August 1 after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in a forest at Akhal in the south Kashmir district, following Intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there.
Earlier in the day, the bodies of Lance Naik Pritpal Singh reached his native place Manupur village in Samrala and Sepoy Harminder Singh’s body reached his village, Badinpur, in Mandi Gobindgarh.
Pritpal Singh (28) joined the Army in 2015, his brother Harpreet Singh said. He got married in February this year and returned to duty in April. He was to come home on leave this month, his brother said.
Harpreet said he received a call on Friday morning from Army officials that he died in a gunfight.
Sepoy Harminder Singh (26) was to return home on leave in a week, his cousin said. He is survived by his elderly parents, a brother and a sister.