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| A tearful salute from Kartikee (11) to her martyred father Col Mahadik. Twitter pic |
November 19, 2015, NewsCrunch
Colonel Santosh Mahadik, who was killed while fighting terrorists at Kupwara, was accorded a funeral with full military honours at his village Pogarwadi in Satara district of Maharashtra.
While thousands gathered to bid farewell to the fallen hero, it was the tearful salute of his daughter Kartikee (11) to his mortal remains that made everyone realise what they had lost.
Besides Kartikee, Col Mahadik leaves behind wife Swati and a five year old son Swaraj.
When Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited he family Swati told him the that both her children would join the Armed Forces, reports The Indian Express.
Col Mahadik, the commanding officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, laid his life while tackling infiltrators in Manigah Forest of Kupwara District in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
A son of a milkman, Col Mahadik’s studied at Satara Sainik School and later at Yashwantrao Chavan Science College from the same district.