Army doc falls to Bodo militants' violence

A resident of West Marredpally, Secunderabad here, the 49 year old Dr Perumal was killed when suspected Bodo militants triggered off an explosive in Sonitpur in Assam.

Col Perumal was on his way to Tenga in Arunachal Pradesh from the Army’s 4 Corps Headquarters in Tezpur, Assam. The Colonel and his driver Naik Aswini Kumar died on the spot. An escort vehicle with five personnel following behind however survived. Col Perumal is survived by his wife Geeta, son Jayanth and daughter Rashmi.

Col Perumal was a native of Tirupati. According to his family he graduated from the Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Medical College, Tirupati in 1984 and joined the Army Medical Corps the same year. Subsequently, he was posted at the Military Hospital at Tirumalgherry, Secunderabad. His son Jayanth is a student of the Army Dental College in Hyderabad while Rashmi is studying law at a city college.

After attending a conference in Bangalore, Dr Perumal returned to Assam on Sunday. When he informed his wife Geeta that he would start around 4 am to reach the headquarters in Tenga valley by 8 am she expressed her apprehensions over the dangers. He however would not budge saying he would not report late even by a few minutes. After this phone call, Geeta another phone call in the next few hours, with the news that Col Perumal was no more.

According to the colonel’s family, during his 27-year old service with the Indian Army, Perumal worked at various places in the country and served on the front during the Kargil War.