The body of Major K P Vinay who was killed on Tuesday in an encounter with terrorists in Kashmir was brought here on Wednesday night and taken to his house in Rajendranagar on city outskirts, with full military honours.

The funeral will be held here on Thursday, family sources said.

The family, originally from Bangalore, is coming to terms with the loss even as crowds have kept vigil outside the house, in the memory of the local hero since Tuesday night when news of the death spread.

Strangers, relatives, friends and acquaintances have been calling on the family, expressing their sympathies and gratitude to the family of the martyr. Major Vinay (30) who was engaged to a Bangalore girl, was to have gone on leave next week ahead of his marriage on October 29 in Bangalore. Vinay was expecting to be posted out of Kashmir after marriage. He was one of the few Army men selected to attend a conference on anti-terrorism in the USA in December.

According to his family members, Major Vinay was a jovial person. “He was easy going and friendly and would make people comfortable,” said his sister-in-law Prajwala.

Born on March 18, 1977, Vinay studied in Delhi and later when his father, K R Prabhakar, an employee of the Defence Department, was posted to Hyderabad he finished his school and junior college here. In 1994 he joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Army in 1999. He saw action in the Kargil war.

He has been serving in Kashmir for the last two years and was expecting a new posting in a few weeks. “He had so many plans for the future... but God willed it otherwise,” said a family member. Major Vinay will be cremated at the Amberpet electric crematorium at 11 am on Friday with full military honours.