Poonch martyr's wife recalls last phone call with him

"I am proud of my husband. He laid down his life for the country," says Mandeep Kaur, wife of Naik Mandeep Singh, who was among the five soldiers killed in a fierce gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday.

Kaur, who last spoke to her husband on phone on Sunday, said she couldn't have imagined that they would never get to talk to each other again.

Mandeep, 30, hailed from Chhatha Shira village in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

Naib Subedar Jaswinder Singh and Sepoy Gajjan Singh, who were also killed in the operation in Poonch's Surankote also hailed from Punjab.

The mortal remains of the three soldiers will reach their respective hometowns on Wednesday.

Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is expected to attend the cremation of one of the soldiers, according to officials.

Mandeep is survived by his wife and two sons. While his elder son is 3 years old, the younger one is only a month old.

Relatives and villagers gathered at Mandeep's residence on Tuesday to mourn his death.

Similar scenes were witnessed at the houses of Naib Subedar Jaswinder Singh and Sepoy Gajjan Singh.

Gajjan, 27, was a resident of Pachranda village in Rupnagar district.

Youngest of four brothers, he got married in February this year.

Gajjan was expected to come home on Wednesday, his family members said.

But on Monday the family was informed that he was killed in an encounter with terrorists, his elder brother Amarjit Singh said.

Jaswinder, 39, belonged to Mana Talwandi village in Kapurthala district.

His elder brother Rajinder Singh, a retired soldier, said Jaswinder had joined the army at the age of 18.

He said their father, Captain (honorary) Harbhajan Singh, was also in the army.

He died of COVID-19 a few months ago.

In 2006, Jaswinder was awarded the Sena Medal.

Jaswinder is survived by his wife Sukhpreet Kaur, 35, daughter Harnoor Kaur, 11, and son Vikramjit Singh, 13.

Meanwhile, Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator Banwarilal Purohit expressed grief over the soldiers' death and offered his deepest condolences to their families.

The state government had on Monday announced an ex gratia of Rs 50 lakh and a government job each for the families of the three soldiers.