Gudigere village in Mandya descended into a pall of gloom upon hearing the news of 33-year-old H Guru being martyred in the deadly terrorist attack in Pulwama on 14 February. He was one of at least 40 jawans who lost their lives when a suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel, heading to Srinagar from Jammu.
He is the son of Honnayya, a resident of Gudigere, and was one of the 2,500 CRPF personnel travelling in the convoy that came under attack. According to a report in The Times of India, he had joined the force 7-8 years ago and had been deployed in Jharkhand before being posted to Kashmir. He had gotten married just six months ago and had recently gotten a home constructed.
Guru had reportedly spoken to his mother on the afternoon of 14 February, hours before the dreaded attack. He leaves behind a wife, Kalavati, his parents and two younger brothers.
He had completed his schooling from a government school in Gudigere before taking up a course in Mechanics from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI). Instead of opting for a job in the same field, he joined the Indian army, reported The News Minute.
Guru would visit home twice a year and had last been home to Gudigere on 10 February.
“In spite of being in the army, he lived a simple life here. He would visit for 15 days every six months and in his friend circle, he was very popular. He always spoke about his work for the nation and he had recently got married.”Sagar, a friend of H Guru, to The News Minute.
A large number of people gathered at Guru’s home hearing of the incident. His remains were expected to reach Bengaluru at 11:30 am on Saturday, 16 February, from where they would be taken to his native Mandya for the last rites.
According to a report in The Hindu, the family did not possess any land where the funeral rites of Guru could be conducted. Deputy Commissioner N Manjushri reportedly inspected several government properties and finally settled on two acres of land on the outskirts of the village for conducting the ceremonies. The jawan is going to get a guard of honour.
Loved ones bid farewell to H Guru.
(ANI)
Family members bid farewell to the mortal remains of H Guru at Gudigere in Mandya.
CM, Siddaramaiah Condoled the Family
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter to express his grief on Thursday, soon after news of the attack broke.
According to The Hindu, Kumaraswamy also said the government would offer a job to Kalavathi, based on her qualifications.
Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwara also took to Twitter to express his grief and offer condolences to Guru’s loved ones.
(With inputs from The Hindu, The Newsminute and The Times of India.)
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