JAMMU: A day after Lance Naik Mool Raj of village Jakh joined his duties inside Pathankot air base he found himself surrounded by heavily armed fidayeen who had stormed the air base in the wee hours of Saturday.
He along with his colleagues who came face to face with these fidayeens did their best to contain them thus preventing major loss of human lives and strategic assets of the Indian Air Force.
Badly injured in the gun fight Lance Naik was rushed to the Military Hospital in Pathankot but instead of recovering he succumbed to his fatal injuries. According to official sources he had taken several bullets on his person while defending himself and his colleagues inside the Air Force station. On Monday when his mortal remains were brought to his native village Jakh in Samba district thousands of villagers and senior state govt officers had converged to pay homage to the brave son of the soil.
Minister for Industries and Commerce Chander Prakash Ganga also attended the funeral ceremony. He laid wreath at the mortal remains of the martyr after which L/Nk Mool Raj was cremated with full military honours at his village.
L/Nk Mool Raj is survived by his mother, his wife, and college going son and a daughter.
The Minister expressed sympathies with the family members of the martyr and also prayed for the eternal peace to the departed soul.
SSP Samba, Joginder Singh, SDM Vijaypur, Rajnish Gupta, Senior army & Police officers, Former Minister Manjit Singh, large no of residents of the area paid tribute to the martyr who made supreme sacrifice for the nation.
Senior Congress leader Manjit Singh also attended the funeral ceremony.