Pulwama attack: 4 from Punjab killed, gloom descends in villages

 ​Chandigarh: At least four CRPF troopers from Punjab were killed in Thursday's deadly attack on a convoy in Pulwama in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir.

A pall of gloom has descended on their villages on Friday as the families of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers await news about the arrival of the bodies of those slain for the last rites.

Villagers and family members vented their anger on the attack and demanded that the Centre should avenge the deaths and give a befitting reply to the Pakistan-backed terrorists.

At least 45 CRPF troopers have died and 38 others injured in the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted there in 1989. 

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district that has left the security establishment stunned.

The four troopers from Punjab include Jaimal Singh of Moga district, Sukhjinder Singh of Tarn Taran, Maninder Singh Attri of Gurdaspur and Kulwinder Singh of Ropar.

"Sukhjinder leaves behind a seven-month-old son, who was born after a gap of eight years. He had just come home to celebrate the first Lohri of his son. He had gone back only recently," Gurnam Singh, a villager said.

A resident of Ghalauti village in Dharamkot subdivision of Moga distirct, Jaimal Singh, 44, was the driver of the fateful bus that was blown up in the attack.

"Our son has been martyred for the country. Though the loss can never be filled, our government and Army should teach a lesson to Pakistan for this cowardly act," father Jaswant Singh said.

Jaimal Singh leaves behind his ageing parents, wife, a 10-year-old son and a younger brother.

Satpal Attri, father of Maninder Singh Attri, said that his son had gone back to join duty on February 13 only and had called him up after reaching Jammu.

"He died the very next day. We are proud of him even though our loss can never be filled," Satpal Attri said. Maninder's younger brother is also serving in the CRPF and is posted in Assam now.

The other trooper from Punjab who also died in the Pulwama attack is Kulwinder Singh from Anandpur Sahib area of Ropar district. He was to get married in 2019 later.

Anti-Pakistan protests were reported from different places in Punjab and Haryana.