Chennai loses its brave son
fighting in Kashmir
"Maj. Mukund Varadharajan was killed in an encounter with
militants on Friday"
A pall of gloom descended on the house
of Major Mukund Varadharajan (32), at Professors Colony in East Tambaram, as
news of his death spread.
Mukund, belonging to the 44th
battalion of Rashtriya Rifles, was killed in an encounter with Hizbul
Mujahideen militants in Shopian in South Kashmir on Friday.
A native of Paruthipattu near
Avadi, Mukund had been keen on taking up a career in the armed forces right
from his childhood, said his father R. Varadharajan, a retired official of
Indian Overseas Bank. Mukund completed B. Com at Sri Chandrasekharendra
Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya at Selaiyur and went on to do a diploma in
journalism at Madras Christian College, Tambaram. He joined OTA, St. Thomas
Mount, and passed out in 2004 to become a lieutenant. He served at the Infantry
School in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, and was in Lebanon on a United Nations Mission.
Mukund was married to Indu and has a three-year-old daughter Arshea.
Mr. Varadharajan said: “It was
his birthday on April 12. When we sent a message, he replied that he would call
us up in the evening and did so. We wished him good luck in his mission; but
within a fortnight, we got this terrible news. He was determined to take up any
assignment and would take brave decisions with ease,” Mr. Varadharajan said.
He said one of his relatives
had woken him up in the early hours of Saturday and told him that someone had
posted the news on Facebook. “But until I saw it in The Hindu this morning, I
could not believe it,” he said.
His wife Geetha Varadharajan
recalled that Maj. Mukund’s grandfather Raghavachari had been an army man and
two of his uncles were serving in the army, and this had inspired him to take
up this tough career. Defence sources said Maj. Mukund’s body would be flown to
Chennai on Sunday.
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