NEW DELHI, Aug 16: All of yesterday, Pramod Kumar served his country, and today, his last rites were performed.
An hour before he was killed by terrorists in an ambush yesterday, in Jammu and Kashmir, CRPF Commandant Pramod Kumar unfurled the tricolour near Nowkhatta in Srinagar.
44-year-old Kumar, Commanding Officer of the 49th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force deployed in the Kashmir valley, hoisted the flag on Sunday between 8:30-8:40 AM. In his speech he said, with India clocking 70 years of freedom, the responsibility on security forces has "increased" and they have to effectively tackle militants and incidents of stone pelting in Jammu and Kashmir.
Soon after, officials said, the wireless set in the CRPF control room crackled, informing about militants hurling grenades and firing on security forces at four places in downtown Srinagar like Nowhatta Chowk, Gojwara Chowk, Bata Gali and Khaniyar Chowk, and reinforcements were sought.
Kumar, along with a small team of his personal security team, dashed out in a bullet proof vehicle and soon after landed at the incident spot.
"The militants were still firing. Kumar led from the front and was shot grievously+ on the upper part of his neck," they said.
He was rushed to the 92 Base Hospital of the army in Srinagar where he succumbed to his injuries.
Promod Kumar was originally from Bakhtiyarpur in Bihar. He joined the CRPF in 1998 and was posted to Srinagar in April 2014. He was promoted to the rank of Commandant recently, according to a CRPF statement. Kumar had served in Kashmir, Tripura, Assam, Jammu, Bihar, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh Kumar was known among his colleagues as a gallant officer+ , and an amiable and an empathetic leader to those under him. He had high operational acumen, was awarded the Director General's (DG's) Commendation Disc in 2015 and the DG's Commendation Certificate in 2011 and 2014. He was on deputation to the elite Special Protection Group between 2011 and 2013. |
