- By Kamal Kumar
- Thu, 23 Nov 2023 06:46 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Captain MV Pranjal Story: The nation lost four soldiers in the Rajouri encounter, which lasted for more than 36 hours and concluded on Thursday as the armed forces neutralized two terrorists. Captain MV Pranjal was among the Bravehearts who laid down their lives for the motherland.
Pranjal's last words to his family were a promise of a 'return' on Thursday. In the final message he sent to his wife, the decorated 63 Rashtriya Rifles officer had written that he was going on a mission and would ping back on Thursday. However, as fate would have it, the soldier returned but was draped in the Tricolour.
"We received a call from the command centre about his demise, and our world has shattered,” Pranjal’s father M Venkatesh said, quoted Indian Express.
Only Son To Parents
Captain Pranjal was the only son of his parents Venkatesh and Anuradha. His father Venkatesh, a former managing director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, now mourns his 29-year-old son, who was about to get promoted to Major on December 9.
Pranjal studied at DPS MRPL School and later graduated from Mahesh PU College, said the heartbroken father while talking to the reporters. Venkatesh recounts the memories of his son who he born and raised in Mangaluru.
“Since childhood, he was very brave, independent, and decisive. I remember when he was in Class 3, I was in Delhi. Back home, Anuradha started to stammer while talking. He immediately called the neighbours and shifted her to a hospital. He knew how to respond quickly. We later found out that it was a transient ischemic attack,” said Venkatesh as he recalled the fond memories of his son.
Left behind Aditi, His IIT Scholar Wife
The fallen officer left behind his wife, Aditi, who is a PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Chennai. The young couple married in 2021, seven years after the Bengaluru boy joined the armed forces in 2014.
His father also said that Pranjal was selected for pursuing engineering at R V College of Bengaluru but he chose to go for the armed forces to serve the nation.
Captain Pranjal and his team rushed to fight militants in a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) based on intelligence information regarding the presence of militants in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, and he was shot during the ensuing firefight.