Thousands turn up to bid tearful adieu to police officer in Jammu

Amid patriotic fervour, thousands of mourners bid a tearful adieu on Monday to Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur, whose last rites were performed with full state honours in a village in the Marh area, near the Indo-Pak border, on the outskirts of Jammu.

The officer, who gave up two government jobs to don the uniform to fulfil his dream to serve the country, was killed while fighting a group of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Sunday.

Three terrorists, including two Pakistani nationals, were eliminated in the encounter that also claimed the life of an Army jawan and left two security personnel, including a major, injured.

The body of Thakur, hailing from Gagla village in Doda district, was flown to Jammu from Srinagar on Monday morning and a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the police lines here.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and Union minister Jitendra Singh joined senior politicians and officers of the police, Army, CRPF and civil administration to pay rich tributes to Thakur.

Later, the tricolour-wrapped coffin carrying the mortal remains of the officer was taken in a specially-decorated vehicle to the residence of his brother at Marh, near the international border, 35 km from Jammu city, where people from all walks of life received the body amid chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Shaheed Aman Amar Rahe".

The people jostled to come closer to the body as wails of relatives and close friends of the slain police officer charged the atmosphere with angry mourners demanding stern action against Pakistan for supporting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

As the body was being taken to the cremation ground, people lined up on both sides of the three-km road and showered flowers as a mark of respect for the son of the soil for his supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

Almost all senior police officers of the state, led by the Director General of Police, attended the last rites of the slain officer, which were performed with full state honours.

A 2011-batch Jammu and Kashmir Police Service officer, Thakur was in his late 30s. He is survived by aged parents, wife Sarla Devi and six-year-old son Arya, who lit the pyre.

Thakur had first got a job in the social welfare department and was later appointed as a lecturer in a government college in view of his master's degree in Zoology. But he preferred to join the police force for his passion to wear the uniform.

DGP Dilbagh Singh lauded Thakur for his courage, saying, "We have lost a brave colleague and we are proud of his martyrdom."