Final rites of soldier Upendra held in his native village

Final rites of soldier Upendra held in his native village

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Jan 1, 2012: The funeral rites of the Udupi-based soldier Upendra Kumar (23), who died fighting railway dacoits in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, were held in Tenkanidiyoor, the place of his birth, on Saturday. 

Upendra, the son of late Leela and late Shankar Nayak, had joined the army three and a half years back and was posted at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. Initially, he was posted in Kashmir and later in Madhya Pradesh. 

Someone had called up his family on the morning of Thursday and asked them to come to Meerut as he was suffering from fever. When his family members called in the afternoon, they were told that he died fighting railway dacoits. Later that night, when the family members made another call, they were told that he had committed suicide. However, it was later confirmed that Upendra had indeed been killed in a fight between railway dacoits and the army personnel. 

Upendra, who had been orphaned at an early age, was taken care of by his uncle. He completed his PU at Poornaprajna Evening College while simultaneously handling a job in a private company. Upendra had visited his family for Deepavali. He has 3 brothers.  

The DC-in-charge Kumar, Rajya Sabha Member Oscar Fernandes, MLA Raghupathi Bhat, MLC Ganesh Karnik, ZP CEO Prabhakar Sharma, ZP President Katpady Shankar Poojary, Udupi Block Congress President Pramod Madhwaraj, and others paid their last respects to the deceased soldier.