The last rites of Mohan Lal Raturi, martyred in the suicide bomb attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, were performed with full State honours at Kharkhari cremation grounds on Saturday. The mortal remains of the martyr wrapped in the Indian flag were brought through a procession from his Dehradun residence to Haridwar on Saturday morning in a CRPF vehicle. The mourners who gathered in a large number at Kharkhari sloganeered against Pakistan and demanded deterrent action against the neighbouring country.
The State Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj paid homage to the martyr. Among those present were the Assembly Speaker Prem Chand Agarwal, Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik and Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’. The last rites were performed by his eldest son Shankar Raturi amidst the ceremonial rituals.
Notably, Mohan Lal Raturi was a resident of Bankot village of Chinyalisaur of Uttarkashi district. He was the assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in the 76th battalion of CRPF. The family of Mohan Lal comprises his wife, three daughters and two sons who are at present living at Vidhya Vihar Colony, Kargi Chowk.
Earlier, the CRPF personnel gave Guard of Honour to the martyr.
DIG CRPF, Dinesh Uniyal, said that Pakistan must be stopped by any means from engineering such terror attacks. “No one would be spared. The perpetrators of the dastardly attack which killed so many brave jawans would be acted against,” he averred.
There was profound grief as well as palpable anger hanging in the atmosphere of the cremation ground. As the funeral pyre was lit, all eyes turned moist. Many of those present raised retaliatory cry and said that such an act must be avenged in an appropriate manner.
While condoling the death with the loved ones of the martyr, Satpal Maharaj said that the whole country was standing like a rock by the bereaved and also behind the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this hour of deep grief and crisis. “The armed forces are weighing options to teach the perpetrators lessons as the PM has given them full freedom to act in accordance with the imperative of the developing situation,” he said.
