Within a week of the deadly Pulwama terrorist attack that claimed the lives of more than 40 CRPF personnel, an encounter between the Armed forces and the terrorists claimed the lives of four brave soldiers early on February 18.
All four martyred soldiers belonged to 55, Rashtriya Rifles. Their names are Sheo Ram (Jhunjhunu), Sepoy Ajay Kumar (Meerut), Sepoy Hari Singh (Meerut) and Major V S Dhoundiyal (Dehradun). As per reports, all four soldiers were hit by bullets from the terrorists when the RR was laying a cordon around the area.
As per reports, Major Dhoundiyal sustained gunshot wounds on his neck and abdomen. He was evacuated to the 92 base hospital in Srinagar but succumbed to his injuries soon and was declared dead.
Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal was a resident of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He had joined the army in 2011, after finishing graduation from a college in the city. Described by his friends as a very simple, humble and respectful man, he had spent most of his career in the army in Jammu and Kashmir.
#WATCH Wife of Major VS Dhoundiyal (who lost his life in an encounter in Pulwama yesterday) by his mortal remains. #Dehradun #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/5HWD6RXwnO
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2019
Major Vibhuti Dhaoundiyal had lost his father in 2012. He is survived by his grandmother, mother, three sisters and wife Nikita Kaul, a Kashmiri girl whom the Major had married in April 2018.
The mortal remains of the 34-year-old soldier were brought to his home in Dehradun yesterday. His wife Nikita, who works for an MNC in Delhi, had flown back to attend his last rites.
शहीद मेजर विभूति शंकर ढौंडियाल जी को उनकी पत्नी और प्रदेश की बेटी, निकिता की यह आख़िरी विदाई का भाव, हमें शहीदों के परिवारों के प्रति अपनी ज़िम्मेदारी के लिए हमेशा प्रेरित करता रहेगा । वीर कभी मरते नहीं, वो शहीदों के रूप में अमर हो जाते हैं । pic.twitter.com/fzKs0izpD9
— Trivendra Singh Rawat त्रिवेंद्र सिंह रावत (@tsrawatbjp) February 19, 2019
Thousands of people, army personnel and Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat had arrived to bid adieu to the braveheart. His last rites were performed with full state honours.
Photographs and videos of the major’s wife saluting her husband have gone viral on social media.
Nitika Kaul , wife Of martyred Major Dhoundiyal shouts ‘JAI HIND’ three times and ‘I Love You Vibhu’ one last time.
These visuals will remain etched in my mind till I am alive pic.twitter.com/BkcpAGWHhL
— Pawan Durani (@PawanDurani) February 19, 2019
Uttarakhand had lost two of its sons in the Pulwama terrorist attack that had claimed 40 lives on 14 February. Just two days later, Major Chitresh Bisht, another soldier from the state, was martyred while diffusing an IED in Rajouri’s Nowshera sector.
