CRPF constable killed in Jharkhand IED blast cremated in native Assam village

Nagaon, Oct 12 (PTI) The last rites of CRPF head constable Mahendra Laskar, who was killed in an IED blast in Jharkhand, were performed at his native village in Assam’s Nagaon district on Sunday.

Laskar’s body was handed over to his family members in Kuwariati village in Kampur area by the CRPF authorities earlier in the day.

A pall of gloom descended in the village as the mortal remains arrived, with people lining up to pay their last respects.

MLAs Jitu Goswami and Sashi Kanta Das, Nagaon District Commissioner Devashish Sharma, SSP Swapnaneel Deka and CRPF Inspector General Virendra Kumar, among others, were present at the cremation.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a post on X: “Condolences to the family of braveheart HC/GD Mahendra Laskar of CRPF from Nagaon who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty in Jharkhand. My thoughts are with his family in this hour of grief. The nation will remember his sacrifice with gratitude.” Laskar was injured, along with two others, in two IED explosions in Saranda forest in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district on Friday.

He died in the course of treatment at a hospital in Rourkela, Odisha, on Saturday.

The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were suspected to have been planted by the proscribed CPI (Maoist) to target security forces, officials said. PTI SSG RBT