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An Assam Rifles jawan from Odisha, V Teja, died after sustaining a gunshot wound while on duty in Nagaland, with his mortal remains brought to Rayagada, where hundreds of people joined a massive motorcycle rally and procession to pay tribute to the soldier.
Teja, 31, had joined the armed forces in 2022 and was serving in Nagaland. He was scheduled to celebrate his birthday on October 7 and return home for Diwali ahead of his wedding in December. A massive motorcycle rally was organised in his honour, beginning from around 10 kilometres away from Rayagada. Hundreds of people participated in the procession, which featured fireworks, DJ music and chants of "Long live the martyred soldier". Speaking to ANI, Naib Subedar Ravindra Kumar Naik of the 15 Assam Rifles said that his responsibility was to bring the deceased soldier's body and hand it over to his family. "It was my responsibility to bring the deceased's body here and hand it over to the family immediately; however, full details will only be known after the post-mortem, which will take a week. The individual, named Teja, belonged to Charlie Company, whereas I am from Alpha Company, so I have no information regarding the cause of his death. You can ask the staff members arriving tomorrow for further details. I was assigned the duty of handing over the body at 12 PM yesterday, although the news of the death had been received at 10 AM," he said. The soldier's maternal uncle told ANI that the family had received a message stating that Teja died in the line of duty after sustaining a gunshot wound. He said that Teja had been serving as a rifleman in Nagaland and that his mortal remains would reach Rayagada by evening. Teja's death has left his parents and family members shattered, while relatives, neighbours and a large number of people gathered outside his residence to pay their respects. According to reports, Teja had pledged to donate his organs around two years ago. Following his death, a local hospital successfully collected and preserved his organs in accordance with his wishes. The soldier's mortal remains were transported by helicopter to Visakhapatnam and subsequently taken by ambulance to Rayagada. The district administration is preparing to pay tribute to Teja on Thursday morning, with his funeral rites scheduled to begin at 7 am. The incident comes days after an ambush near the India-Myanmar border in Arunachal Pradesh on September 29, in which Havildar Jankhokai Kuki was killed, and four others were injured. (ANI)
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