SAMBA : When word spread that a jawan from the village of Joginder Singh, in the Indian Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), had become a martyr in the Naxalite attack in Chattisgarh, a pall of doom fell over Abtal Katlan, a village close to Samba. The entire family was shocked to learn that Joginder Singh, a brave and promising soldier, had lost his life in an IED blast planted by Naxalites in the Bade Gobra area of the Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh shortly after receiving the message from ITBP Headquarters. We saw the family members crying and lamenting. After learning the news, the entire village was in rude shock and was at a loss for words when it came to consoling the family. Dilip Singh’s son, Martyr Joginder Singh, was a courageous and well-behaved soldier.While on duty, he accompanied an ITBP party to pave the way for the polling party to return from Bade Gobra in the Chhatisgarh district of Gariaband. When a soldier manning the polling place stepped on an IED that the naxalites had planted, an explosion happened. Unaware that the Naxalites had planted an IED to destroy the Road Opening Party, the ITBP jawan headed out to retrieve the polling party, only to discover that fate had other plans for him and his comrades. In addition to his ageing parents, Martyr leaves behind his spouse, a nine-year-old son, an older brother, two younger brothers, and a sister. He came from a courageous family—his older brother had also retired from the Army, and his father, Dilip Singh, had also served as a Subedar. While one of his brothers works for the BSF, the other is also serving in the ITBP.
