Maharashtra bids tearful adieu to martyrs

Amidst slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", the two brave hearts from the Buldhana district of Maharashtra, who died in the Pulwama terror attack, were bid a tearful adieu on Saturday.

The two CRPF jawans are Sanjay Rajput (45) of Malkapur and Nitin Rathod (39) of Lonar.

While Rajput is survived by his wife Sushma and two sons Jai (13) and Subham (11), Rathod is survived by wife Vandana, son Jeevan (8) and daughter Jeevika (5).

The bodies were brought in a special IAF plane to Aurangabad from New Delhi and then taken in helicopters to the two towns in Buldhana.

Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed as the corteges carried the bodies draped in the tricolour passed through the road.

People raised slogans like "Bharat Mata ki Jai", "Vande Mataram" even as a pall of gloom descended in Buldhana in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region.

State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had already announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the next of kin of the families of the two soldiers.