BHUBANESWAR: The body of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan Sushant Khuntia who was killed in a Naxal ambush on Friday in Jharkhand was consigned to flames at his ancestral town in Anandapur in Odisha’s Keonjhar on Saturday.
After his body reached Anandapur, it was taken to the cremation ground in a huge procession followed by a sea of supporters and mourners. The town reverberated with chants of ‘Veer jawan Sushant amar rahe’ when the procession went past it.
Khuntia’s cremation was attended by many eminent personalities from the area. He was accorded a full state honour before his body was consigned to the flames.
“Sushant was the most loved child among all. When I heard the news of his death, I could not believe my ears. I asked his sister and she confirmed the news. I was devastated,” a relative of Khuntia said.
As per reports, the CRPF team had an encounter with Naxals in Jharkhand on Friday. The Naxals ambushed the jawans when they were returning from a combing operation. Constable Sushant Kumar Khuntia and Munna Lal Yadav got injured. While both of them were evacuated, sadly Khuntia lost his life to bullet injuries.
Though Sushant hails from Anandapur, his pregnant wife now stays in Telkoi, a small town located a few miles away. Their Anandapur house is currently locked. Sushant’s father had died recently. Sushant had also lost one of his brothers to cancer while his other brother, who was working in a private company, died by suicide a couple of years ago.
The slain Odia jawan's mother is also reportedly not keeping well and she is now undergoing treatment at Bhubaneswar. Sushant’s sister is looking after his mother.
