‘Brave and simple man, always cared for his fellow soldiers’

At 10 am on Friday 14, few hours before he was killed, 35-year-old Central Reserve Police Force constable Nitin Rathod spoke to his wife for the last time. Rathod was among the 45 CRPF men who were killed in the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district yesterday.

He is survived by his parents, wife, and two children. A native of Chorpangra village in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district, Rathod joined CRPF in 2005. He was due for a promotion this year. He was in 03 Battalion of CRPF’s G Company.

Ashok Chavan, Rathod’s brother-in-law, told Newslaundry, “He left for Kashmir on February 9 after spending his holidays with his family. He was here for a month. I went to drop him at Akola station. On Thursday, around 10 in the morning, my sister had a conversation with him.”

Since she heard about the death of her husband, Vandana has been inconsolable, Chavan told Newslaundry. The couple have two kids: a 7-year-old daughter, Prachi, and a 9-year-old son, Peeyush.

“My brother-in-law always wanted to join the defence forces and [that is why he] joined CRPF,” Chavan said. Rathod was posted in Assam before his posting to Jammu and Kashmir, he added. “Six years of his service were remaining. This is a jolt to the whole family.”

Gautam Lahane, Rathod’s colleague, said: “We were in the same battalion and were very close. He was like an elder brother to me. I came here on February 7 and he left on February 9. During his posting in Assam, during a long road patrolling, he indulged in a fierce gun battle with insurgents over there. He was a brave and simple man who always used to take care of his fellow soldiers.”

Lahane said Rathod had recently selected a plot of land which he intended to buy to secure the future education of his children, Lahane said. He meant to purchase it during his next visit, but destiny had different plans, Lahane said. 

A love for service

Sanjay Rajput was the head constable of 115 battalions of CRPF and went to Kashmir on February 11. Despite being eligible for voluntary retirement, 45-year-old Rajput continued working as CRPF chief constable. Kashmir was his latest posting.

Rajesh Rajput, elder brother of Sanjay Rajput told Newslaundry, “My brother joined CRPF in 1996 since from childhood he wanted to serve the nation. He did his training at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir and did his first posting in Assam. He was very sincere about his duty and despite getting the chance to take voluntary retirement he continued his service, for him his duty and his country was first and then came his family.”

Rajput had served in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. He also served in Chhattisgarh for six years and was posted in Nagpur for the past three years.

Rajput is survived by his mother, wife, two sons and two brothers. He was a native of Lakhani plot of Malkapur Tehsil in Buldhana. His father was a labourer and died in 2009.

His two sons Jay, 13, and Shubham, 11, are in Class 7 and 6, respectively, while his wife Sushma is a homemaker. The three of them live in Nagpur.

Rajesh Rajput said, “Such was his passion to join the armed forces that after completing his Class 12, he joined CRPF. We were four brothers. One died in an accident in 2014 and now this tragedy of Sanjay, it’s very painful. Till February 11, he was with his wife and sons and nobody knew that it was their last stay together.”

The article image is that of constable Nitin Rathod.