The killing of 28-year-old CRPF jawan G. Subramanian in a fidayeen attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered shock waves among the residents of Savalaaperi near Kovilpatti. They could not believe that one of the vibrant sons of the otherwise sleepy hamlet, who actively organised sports in the village exactly a month ago, is no more.
Subramanian, who always loved ‘uniformed services’, joined the CRPF five years ago after completing ITI. He was shifted to Jammu and Kashmir following his service at Uttar Pradesh and Chennai. When he had come to Savalaaperi for ‘Pongal’, he celebrated ‘thalai Pongal’ with wife Krishnaveni at Venkatachalapuram, and actively took part in the sports events organised as part of ‘Pongal’ celebrations.
More importantly, he spent more time with his father Ganapathi as he underwent cataract surgery.
He left for Jammu only last Sunday and contacted Ms. Krishnaveni over the phone around 2 p.m. on Thursday to inform her that he was on his way to the barrack in the convoy which came under suicide attack within the next few minutes.
Hope shattered
When the news of the killing of 40 CRPF jawans broke, Subramanian’s family members started calling him over his mobile phone that remained switched off. The panic-stricken family members then contacted the revenue and the police officials, who could not say anything as they did not receive any intimation from the CRPF till Friday noon. Though the women members of Subramanian’s family, relatives and the villagers were wailing inconsolably, Mr. Ganapathi firmly believed that his son was alive. However, his last hope got shattered when the State government, through Deputy Superintendent of Police of Kovilpatti Jebaraj and Kayathar tahsildar Lingaraj confirmed the news of his death in the afternoon.
“He was with me all the time while was undergoing cataract surgery. Even as I was recuperating, he took care of the farm activities. He always wanted to become uniformed personnel to serve the nation and he has fulfilled his ambition by sacrificing his life for the country,” said Mr. Ganapathi even as his wife Marudhammal and daughter-in-law Krishnaveni were inconsolable.
The slain jawan’s friends and relatives recalled that Subramanian would always encourage the youngsters to be physically fit to become a policeman or a soldier.
