One was planning wedding of his daughter, the other eagerly awaiting arrival of his second child.
The dreams of Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Ratan Kumar Thakur went up in smoke in a trice. They were among the 44 CRPF jawans who lost their lives. Family and friends of Sinha received the earth-shattering news of his death with sorrow, anger and disbelief.
His father Mahendra Prasad is proud of his son but equally concerned about what would happen to his family. “He has two grown-up, unmarried daughters. While leaving for duty, he had said that on his next visit to the village he will finalise marriage of elder one. We are distraught,” grief-stricken father said.
The atmosphere is sombre at Thakur’s home in Bhagalpur. He has left behind a four-year-old son and a wife who is expecting their second child. “We were expecting a call from Ratan by the evening as he had told us he would speak to us after joining duty in Srinagar. Instead, we received a call from one of his superiors who broke to us the terrible news,” Niranjan Thakur, the slain CRPF constable’s father, said.