Mourning Mathura village awaits its martyred son

A village in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district is overwhelmed with sorrow as it awaits the homecoming of Samod Singh, the army man who died late Wednesday night battling terrorists in Kashmir.

The 32-year-old's family and all residents of Bhavanpura village are in tears since Thursday when the tragic news reached them that he lost his life late Wednesday night battling Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists for over nine hours in an operation.

Samod Singh, a rifleman of 14 Rashtriya Rifles, succumbed to his injuries in an army hospital in Srinagar. His colleagues in the army were scheduled to bring home his body in Bhavanpura village on Friday afternoon.

"Samod was married and has left behind his wife, two sons, aged 8 and 6. The entire village is mourning and people are coming since morning to express grief. Many members of our family are in the army," Samod Singh's brother Pramod told IANS.

Samod Singh had joined the Indian Army 12 years ago.

Congress leader Narendra Singh, paying his tributes to the martyred rifleman, said Samod sacrificed his life for the country fighting the terrorists.