Doon loses 2 sons in Kashmir in two days
DEHRADUN: Minutes before last respects were paid to Major Chitresh Bisht at his residence in Dehradun, the Uttarakhand capital lost another braveheart, Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, in an encounter in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday morning.
Major Dhoundiyal was among four armymen killed in the encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, a short distance from the spot where 40 CRPF personnel were killed recently in a suicide attack by the outfit.
Major Bisht was killed while defusing a landmine on the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district on Saturday. His mortal remains reached his house in Dehradun on Monday morning and were consigned to flames in Haridwar in the afternoon.
Major Dhoundiyal was 34 years old and served 55 Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Indian Army. Since morning, Brahma Niwas on Dangwal Marg, Neshvilla Road, in Dehradun was secured by police after reports of his death reached his home town. The police shut down the house and did not allow any person, other than family members, to enter inside. Dhoundiyal is survived by his wife Nitika whom he married in April last year, mother Saroj, grandmother Shakuntala and a sister, Vaishnavi. Two of his sisters are married.
His wife Nitika works at a multinational company in Delhi and had left Dehradun after paying a visit to her in-laws on Monday morning. She was informed about the incident by the army, based on his last phone call. She was on her way back until filing of the report.
Dhoundiyal last visited his family between December 21 and December 31. Brigadier HS Jaggi, deputy GOC, Dehradun headquarters, reached Dhoundiyal’s residence in the afternoon to officially share the information with his sister. But he didn’t interact with media persons.
While his immediate family remained out of bounds, his cousin Ayushman Dhoundiyal (30), who works in construction sector, said, “We met during Christmas break and visited Mussoorie. He had promised to return in April to celebrate his first wedding anniversary (April 19) with family and friends.”