Study well for exams: Slain soldier told his kids in last phone call
JAMMU: My father talked to me [over the phone] on Sunday morning and asked both of us [the siblings] to study seriously for the final exams ABHINANDAN, son of Havildar Roshan Lal, who was killed in Pakistan army shelling
“Study seriously for exams”. Havildar Roshan Lal, one of the four Indian Army soldiers killed in Pakistan shelling in Rajouri district on Sunday night, had this advice for his children when he spoke to his son in the morning.
Lal, 42, hailed from Nichla village in Ghagwal tehsil of Samba district in Jammu. As his family mourns his death and people console them, there was anger and talk of settling scores.
“He died in a proxy war,” said Darshan Kumar about his older brother Lal as mourners gathered at the family home in Nichla. “Let’s settle it once and for all,” said Kumar, who works with the paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force and believes his brother would have inflicted heavy damage on the Pakistani side in a regular war.
Lal, who joined the army in 1995, is survived by his father, Des Raj, wife Asha Devi and two children.
“My father talked to me [over the phone] on Sunday morning and asked both of us to study seriously for the final exams,” said Abhinandan, a Class 10 student at the Army School in Samba. His sister, Artika, is in Class 8.
Captain Kapil Kundu who killed along was Lal, was six days short of his 23rd birthday, an army official said.
Kundu, who hailed from Ransika village of Gurgaon district, would have turned 23 on February 10.
The other two soldiers killed in Pakistan action were identified as riflemen Ram Avtar and Shubam Singh.
Last few weeks have seen bloody skirmishes along the international border as well as the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto frontier, between India and Pakistan.
Nineteen people, including 12 security personnel, have been killed this year. Heavy shelling has also forced administrations to close down schools in many areas and villagers living along the border have also moved to safer places.