Kupwara encounter with militants: Army pays floral tributes to martyred Colonel Santosh Mahadik

SRINAGAR: Army on Wednesday paid floral tributes to Colonel Santosh Mahadik, Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, who was killed while battling militants near Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

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Tributes to the valour and sacrifice of the late officer were paid in a solemn ceremony held at Badami Bagh Cantonment.

Top army officers including, Northern Commander Lt Gen D S Hooda, and officers from BSF and Jammu and Kashmir Police laid floral wreaths on the coffin.

The 39-year-old colonel, a resident of Maharashtra, who was the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, was critically injured during an operation in the Haji Naka forest area of Kupwara near the LoC in Kashmir yesterday.

He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later.

Col Mahadik, an officer from the elite 21 Para-Special Forces unit, was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the North-East in 2003.