Martyr's son vows to follow dad, join forces
Rathod's nine-year-old son Piyush said though his father has been martyred in the terror attack, he wishes to follow the footsteps of his father and join security forces when he grows up.
Thousands of villagers gathered at Malkapur and Chorpangra village in Buldhana district when mortal remains of martyrs Sanjay Rajput and Nitin Rathod were consigned to flames with full state honours on Saturday.Rajput (49) and Rathod (35) from Maharashtra's Buldhana district were part of the CRPF convoy which was targeted by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday.After the mortal remains of 40 martyrs reached Delhi last night, the mortal remains of Rajput and Rathod were airlifted to Aurangabad airport at around 12.30 pm. After the security forces paid tribute at the airport, the mortal remains of Rathod were sent to his native village in Chorpangra by road while that of Rajput were sent to his village in Malkapur by helicopter.The mortal remains reached the respective village at around 3.30 pm where thousands of people from the martyrs' villages as well as nearby villages gathered to pay tribute to the brave sons of Buldhana. Family members and those gathered could not control their tears when the mortal remains covered in the tricolours arrived at their villages.Rathod's nine-year-old son Piyush said though his father has been martyred in the terror attack, he wishes to follow the footsteps of his father and join security forces when he grows up.The villagers who paid last respect to the martyrs were shouting slogans like 'Nitin Rathod amar rahe' and 'Sanjay Rajput amar rahe'. The anger against Pakistan was also palpable as the villagers were constantly shouting 'Pakistan Murdabad' to condemn the terror attack which claimed 40 lives of CRPF personnel.