Little did she know that this was her husband’s last phone call to her and she would never hear his voice thereafter. Married two years ago to Constable Manoj Kumar Behera, who was martyred in the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday,  Itilata of Ratanpur village in the Niali area in Cuttack district is yet to accept the harsh reality that her husband is no more.

Manoj, who had joined the CRPF in 2006, had spoken to Itilata over phone in the morning. Hours after, Itilata could not believe her ears when she heard that her husband was among the 45 CRPF Jawans killed in the worst terror attack at Pulwama, 30 km from Srinagar. Ililata, who married Manoj on January 20, 2017 and has a one-year-old daughter, was in tears while recalling his last conversation with her beloved husband.

“I will be leaving for Srinagar today for which I woke up at 3 am. But I will start a bit late since the road is not clear. I will call you again once I reach there,” recalls Itilata sharing the last few lines of the telephonic conversation.

Manoj’s mother Sabitri Behera, whom he had called last at around 1 pm on the fateful day, said he had come on a vacation on December 24 last year. “He was very happy. We celebrated his daughter’s birthday on January 16. Then, he went back on February 6,” she said.

Similarly, a pall of gloom descended on the family of another martyred Jawan of the State. Prasanna Sahoo of Shikhar village under the Naugaon police limits of Jagatsinghpur district had been posted as a Constable at 61 Battalions of CRPF. He had last come to his house in November last year, said his inconsolable wife, who is yet to come out of the shock.

His daughter Sony, who is deeply broken after the tragedy, said, “My father laid down his life for the nation. I and my family are proud of him. He had always had this dream to do something for the country. But as a daughter, I lost my father which is irreparable.”