Odisha CM announces Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia for jawan's kin

Expressing grief over the death of Odia Army jawan Naik Ajit Kumar Sahoo in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the next of the kin of the deceased.

While condemning the terrorist act, Patnaik said the assistance will be given from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. "Martyr Sahoo has made supreme sacrifice for the nation," the chief minister said.

"Deeply saddened by the martyrdom of Odia jawan Ajit Kumar Sahoo in an encounter with militants in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Salute to the supreme sacrifice of the brave soldier, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family," the CM tweeted.

Sahoo, who hailed from Badasuanla village under Kamakshya Nagar block of Dhenkanal district, was hit by an IED blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday. He had sustained injuries in the blast at Arihal and succumbed on Tuesday. Sahoo had joined the Indian Army in 2015.

Nine Army personnel including Sahoo and two civilians were injured when militants triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) fitted in a vehicle near an Army patrol in the militancy-hit Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Monday.