Army officer killed in Jammu terror attack cremated

Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh, who was killed in the terror attack on an army camp in Jammu region, was cremated with full military honours here today.

His father, Major (Retd) Paramjeet Singh, lit the pyre with people from all sections of society attending the funeral.

An army contingent fired in air and reversed their arms as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

Lt Col Singh was shot in the stomach by terrorists yesterday at the 16 Cavalry unit in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir when he was returning unarmed from the officers' mess to his home in the adjacent residential area.

"It was a cowardly attack on a brave soldier of India. He would have handled all three had he been carrying a weapon with him," his father said.

People from different walks of life and neighbours visited Singh's sector 8 house and expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

Bikramjeet, who hailed from Chandigarh, had joined the elite Armoured Corps after passing out from the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) in December 1998.

Prominent among those who attended the funeral were local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, former MP Satyapal Jain, Chandigarh's advisor K K Sharma, Deputy Commissioner M Shyn, city Mayor Subash Chawla, representatives of Punjab and Haryana government and several retired and serving officers from the Western Command.

The 39-year-old martyr is survived by his wife and an eight-year-old daughter.

Earlier, the martyr's body was brought to the cremation ground from Chandimandir, a military station near Panchkula.