People bid tearful farewell to CRPF jawan H Guru
Bengaluru, Feb 16: Sobbing parents and wife of braveheart H Guru, who was killed in the Pulwama terror attack, fainted during his funeral in Mandya district and emotional slogans rent the air as his mortal remains were consigned to flames with full State honours Saturday.
Thousands of people, including Union Minister Sadananda Gowda, turned up at his remote Gudigere village to pay their last respects to the martyr.
Earlier the tricolour-draped casket carrying his mortal remains was brought by a special plane at the HAL Airport where chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, union minister D V Sadananda Gowda, state home minister M B Patil, and others paid homage by laying wreaths on the coffin.
As the body was taken to his home village by a convoy of Army vehicles, thousands of people stood on both sides of the road all along from Bengaluru to his home village, a distance of about 100 km, holding the tricolour.
Emotional slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram', 'Veer Yodha Guru Amar Rahe' and 'Pakistan Murdabad' rent the air as the convoy passed through.
In many places, schools declared holiday for children to pay their last respects to the slain soldier.
At many places, people blocked roads to pay homage to the martyr.
Police had the tough time clearing the blockade.
Throughout the journey, people showered flowers on the vehicle.
Man people followed the convoy in their vehicles.
Some people waving the tricolour were at the front of the convoy.
Emotions ran high as the body reached the village.
While his relatives were inconsolable, his father, mother, wife Kalavathi fainted several times.
A gun salute was offered before the body was consigned to flames.
People wept openly when Kalavathi saluted the coffin containing her husband's mortal remains and said 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Veer Yodha Guru Amar Rahe.'
Kumaraswamy, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, Union Minister Sadananda Gowda and several other politicians and officers reached the village and attended the last rites.
The chief minister announced a Rs 25 lakh solatium to the bereaved family and a government job for Kalavathi.
In a goodwill gesture, actress Sumalatha, widow of actor-politician Ambarish announced donating half-an-acre of land in Gudigere to build a memorial for the martyr.
Kumaraswamy's actor son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is at Gudigere trying to console the bereaved family members.
Many business establishments in the prime business area of the city, Chikpet and surrounding places remained closed to condemn the attack and pay homage to the departed souls.
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EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
