<p>Jade Garden, a gated community in northern Bengaluru, descended into gloom as the body of one of its residents, Major Akshay Girish Kumar, who was killed in the militant attack at Nagrota, was brought in on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Kumar’s mortal remains arrived in a service aircraft at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in the morning. The body was kept there for some time as a host of visitors streamed in to pay their last respects and Army men paid homage by placing wreaths.<br /><br />Among the visitors were Law Minister T B Jayachandra, Mayor G Padmavathi, Vice Admiral K O Thakare, Major General KS Nijjar, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, commandants of various Army and Air Force units, Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh and other serving and retired officers.<br /><br />Some corporators who accompanied the mayor were not allowed into the Air Force Station. The body was then taken to Jade Garden by an Army truck. Kumar’s parents Girish Kumar and Meghana, wife Sangeetha, two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Naina and twin sister Neha travelled by car to the villa.<br /><br />As the coffin was being taken into the house, his friends shed tears. “He was so dedicated to his goals. He died for a cause,” said one of his friends who walked in with a wreath.<br /><br />Entry into the gated community was regulated by the Army as hundreds of people turned up to pay their last respects. Kumar’s classmates at Jain University where he studied BSc for one-and-a-half-months, his teachers and neighbours from Koramangala where his family lived previously were among the visitors.<br /><br />Pre-cremation rituals<br /><br />While relatives were let in though an entrance at the back, others had to queue up at the main entrance manned by police. Eventually, only a few were allowed into Villa 635, the residence of Kumar’s family. NCC students and Army men lined outside the villa as Kumar’s relatives took part in closed-door pre-cremation rituals.<br /><br />The body was then taken to the crematorium in Hebbal where the last rites were performed with full state honours. A lecturer who said he taught Kumar in college described him as “very cheerful and enthusiastic.”<br />“From day one, he was clear about joining the armed forces. Yet, he did not ignore his studies and was focused in every class,” the lecturer added.</p>
<p>Jade Garden, a gated community in northern Bengaluru, descended into gloom as the body of one of its residents, Major Akshay Girish Kumar, who was killed in the militant attack at Nagrota, was brought in on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Kumar’s mortal remains arrived in a service aircraft at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in the morning. The body was kept there for some time as a host of visitors streamed in to pay their last respects and Army men paid homage by placing wreaths.<br /><br />Among the visitors were Law Minister T B Jayachandra, Mayor G Padmavathi, Vice Admiral K O Thakare, Major General KS Nijjar, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, commandants of various Army and Air Force units, Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh and other serving and retired officers.<br /><br />Some corporators who accompanied the mayor were not allowed into the Air Force Station. The body was then taken to Jade Garden by an Army truck. Kumar’s parents Girish Kumar and Meghana, wife Sangeetha, two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Naina and twin sister Neha travelled by car to the villa.<br /><br />As the coffin was being taken into the house, his friends shed tears. “He was so dedicated to his goals. He died for a cause,” said one of his friends who walked in with a wreath.<br /><br />Entry into the gated community was regulated by the Army as hundreds of people turned up to pay their last respects. Kumar’s classmates at Jain University where he studied BSc for one-and-a-half-months, his teachers and neighbours from Koramangala where his family lived previously were among the visitors.<br /><br />Pre-cremation rituals<br /><br />While relatives were let in though an entrance at the back, others had to queue up at the main entrance manned by police. Eventually, only a few were allowed into Villa 635, the residence of Kumar’s family. NCC students and Army men lined outside the villa as Kumar’s relatives took part in closed-door pre-cremation rituals.<br /><br />The body was then taken to the crematorium in Hebbal where the last rites were performed with full state honours. A lecturer who said he taught Kumar in college described him as “very cheerful and enthusiastic.”<br />“From day one, he was clear about joining the armed forces. Yet, he did not ignore his studies and was focused in every class,” the lecturer added.</p>
