Thiruvananthapuram: Lieutenant Colonel Niranjan was laid to rest with full military honours in the officer's village in Kerala on Tuesday.
An officer of the National Security Guard (NSG), he was killed in Pathankot on Sunday while trying to defuse a bomb at the airbase where alleged Pakistani militants laid siege for more than three days.
A 21-gun salute and slogans accompanied the last rites conducted by Niranjan’s inconsolable family.
The lieutenant colonel was killed on Sunday morning while trying to defuse a bomb during the three-day siege at the Pathankot airbase by alleged Pakistani militants.
Niranjan's remains were first taken to Bengaluru where his family lives, and then brought to his village Elambulasserry in the Palakkad district. The last rites were delayed as there was a heavy rush of people to pay their respects to the NSG commando.
Serpentine queues were visible outside the KUP School where the body was placed before family members conducted the final rites at the family-owned burial ground.
Kerala home minister Ramesh Chennithala was present at the funeral while chief minister Oommen Chandy called on the family on Tuesday night.
Many areas in the district as well as several schools remained closed on Tuesday in tribute. Though Niranjan was brought up in Bengaluru, where he did his schooling and college, he maintained a connect with his village, which he last visited during the festival of Onam in September 2015.
However, insulting remarks by a 24-year-old from Malappuram posted on social media slightly marred the tributes that were pouring in. The man was arrested by police and will be charged with sedition, a senior police officer said.
