Body to be cremated with full state honours today; had joined Sikh regiment as sepoy in 2014

Satinder Pal Singh

Lalru, July 10

Gurpreet Singh (24), an Army jawan and resident of Dharamgarh village, here, was killed while two others were injured after a mortar shell exploded accidentally during a training activity at Nimu, headquarters of the Nimoo block in Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

According to information, the incident took place during a training activity at a firing range at Nimu in Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said the soldiers, including Gurpreet Singh, were conducting a training drill with live ammunition when the mortar shell got stuck in the gun and went off.

When Gurpreet, along with his two colleagues Manroop and Sandeep, went to check the mortar gun, the shell that was stuck inside it exploded accidentally leaving them critically injured.

All three were rushed to a hospital at Leh where Gurpreet succumbed to his injuries later on. However the condition of others two is stable, said the sources.

The body of Gurpreet will be flown to the Air Force base in Chandigarh tomorrow from where it will be taken to the soldier’s ancestral village at Dharamgarh near Lalru, it is learnt.

Gurpeet’s family members as well as the villagers are in a shock after receiving the news about his death. People are thronging the jawan’s house to mourn his death.

Gurpreet had joined the Sikh regiment Unit No. 6 as a sepoy in 2014. He was unmarried. A few years after posting in Bathinda, Gurpreet was posted in Leh last year.

Gurpeet is survived by his father, two sisters, and two brothers. One of the sisters was to get married this November. Gurpreet lost his mother a few years ago.

The last rites of Gurpreet Singh would be performed here with full state honours on Thursday.

The incident

According to information, the incident took place during a training activity at a firing range at Nimu in Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said the soldiers, including Gurpreet Singh, were conducting a training drill with live ammunition when the mortar shell got stuck in the gun and went off.

The kin

Gurpeet is survived by his father, two sisters, and two brothers. One of the sisters was to get married this November. Gurpreet lost his mother a few years ago.