‘Lost two sons in two months’: Family mourns soldier, killed in action in Kathua

Rifleman Adarsh Negi, 26, who was among five army soldiers killed in action in Monday's terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, lost his on-duty cousin, Major Pranay Negi, 33, in Leh two months ago.

“We had already lost a son who died serving his country. Now, we have found out that five Armymen from the Pauri-Garwhal region, including Adarsh, were killed in the ambush in Kathua,” Balwant Singh Negi, the Rifleman's uncle and the Major's father, told NDTV on Tuesday.

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All five soldiers who succumbed to injuries sustained in the ambush, were from Uttarakhand. Besides Rifleman Adarsh Negi, they were identified as Junior Commissioned Officer (Naib Subedar) Anand Singh, Kamal Singh (Havaldar), Anuj Negi (Rifleman) and Vinod Singh (Naik).

Meanwhile, Adarsh's father Dalbir Singh Negi recalled what turned out to be his final conversation with the Rifleman; they spoke one day before the fatal attack, which also left five other troopers injured.

“We spoke to him last on Sunday. He said he was having food and was headed for duty. He had come to the village to attend a wedding and left in March,” the father said to NDTV.

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“He was a very sharp kid and completed his intermediate from a school in the village. He then studied BSc from Garhwal University. He was always very fit and I told him to maintain his physical fitness, which eventually got him a job in the Army, and he has now laid down his life for the nation,” Dalbir Singh Negi, a farmer, stated.

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Saying that the family has lost ‘two sons in two months,’ he requested the government to take some ‘strong steps’ as children from Garhwal and Kumaon 'often return as martyrs.'

Rifleman Adarsh Negi, who joined the Garhwal Rifles in 2018, is survived by his parents, and two elder siblings: a sister and a brother. The family hails from the Thati Dagar village in Uttarakhand's Tehri district.