Governor Shekhar Dutt, on Independence Day, paid tributes to the martyrs, including Army and Police officers, by placing wreaths at Shaheed Vatika of Rajiv Smriti Van at Raipur. Policemen saluted the martyrs at the Martyr memorial.
Saplings in the name of martyrs had been planted at the Shaheed Vatika. In the naxalite encounter at Jharaghati near Kaushal Nagar in Narayanpur district on August 13, three personnel of Chhattisgarh Armed Force – Sombahadur Thapa, Mahendra Singh and Manoj Singh – were killed.
Director General of Police Ramnivas informed the Dutt that head-constable Sombahadur Thapa’s father Roopbahadur Thapa, was also killed in the bomb blast at Golapalli in Bastar in the year 1992. The name of the brave martyr will also be written on the board in Shaheed Vatika, he added.
Talking about Sombahadur Thapa, Governor Dutt said that it was a most inspirational thing that after the martyrdom of father, the son also offered his life for the protection and security of the country and the state. He sacrificed his ‘today’ for the ‘tomorrow’ of the country and the citizens of the country, he added.
The governor said, “Because of such martyrs today we are protecting the independence of the country. The governor also planted a Rudraksh sapling in the Vatika in memory of the martyrs.
DGP Ramnivas said that through Shaheed Vatia, efforts were being done to provide important information about the life of the martyrs, their family and martyrdom to the people. Chief Secretary Sunil Kumar, Principal Secretary Hom NK Aswal.
DGP Ramnivas, Director General Jail and Homeguard Girdhari Nayak, Chhattisgarh-Odisha Sub Area Commander Brigadier Balraj Mehta, Air Commodor of Indian Air Force Mohe, director of Kanker Jangalvar College PK Ponwar and officers of the Army and Police also paid tributes to the martyrs by placing wreaths.