Lance Naik Sukhpreet Singh (27) of the Army’s 19 JAK Rifles, who lost his life while on duty in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday night, was cremated with full military honours at his native Buttar Bakhua village in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment in Muktsar district on Friday.

A large number of people from the village and nearby areas gathered to pay their last respects to the soldier. Army personnel, including Subedar Sukhvindar Singh, local MLA Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Congress leader Amrita Warring, Gidderbaha SDM Arvinder Pal Singh and several ex-servicemen also attended the last rites.

The body was brought to the village in a cavalcade of vehicles. Scores of youngsters carrying posters bearing the words “Shaheed Sukhpreet Singh” accompanied the procession and raised slogans of “Sukhpreet Sukhi Amar Rahe”.

The family bid an emotional farewell to Sukhpreet by placing a ‘sehra’ (decorative wedding veil) on his forehead, as he was scheduled to get married in November this year.

Recalling the tragic incident, Subedar Sukhvindar Singh said, “I, along with six others, was present at the spot when a rock fell during heavy rain in Rajouri district. Sukhpreet died on the spot. He had served in the Army for nearly eight years.”

Sukhpreet, who joined the Army in 2019 after completing Class XII, belonged to a farming family. He is survived by his parents and a younger sister.

The village residents remembered Sukhpreet as a humble and respectful young man whose untimely death has left the entire village in mourning. They demanded that a memorial gate be constructed in the village in Sukhpreet’s memory.