A pall of gloom descended on Nallur Thittachery village, about 7 km from Gangavalli town in Salem district, the native of CRPF jawan N. Thirumurugan, who was killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Monday.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the house of the slain jawan where the grief-stricken relatives, including his wife and three children, were wailing at his untimely demise. His friends and relatives recalled him as a tenacious youth.
Staving off tears, his family reminisced the sheer determination of the 36-year-old Thirumurugan who joined CRPF in 2000 when he was just 19. He was doing a degree course in an arts college in Chennai city when he was selected for the CRPF. Due to family circumstances, he quit studies and joined the force. He had served in Kolkatta and Jammu and Kashmir before being posted to the CRPF unit at Coimbatore about three years ago.
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After completing three years of service at the Coimbatore unit, Thirumurugan was posted to Chhattisgarh only three months ago. His aged parents Nallathambi and Pounambal and other members of his family dissuaded him from going to Chhattisgarh, as they have heard much about the activities of the extremist elements in that State.
“We persuaded him not to go, but he was adamant”, says Nallathambi, a small time farmer. “I have joined the force to serve the country and I will continue to do it till my end,” he had told his parents.
Selvi (31) wife of Thirumurugan and his three children – daughters Pradeepa (11) and Priyadarshini (10) and son Sriharan (7) – residing in Coimbatore, were the first to know about the tragedy on Monday evening. They informed his parents living in the village.
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Parents shattered
His parents initially thought he was injured in the attack. “Soon, revenue and police officials visited the house to confirm his death and we were shattered,” said Nallathambi.
Thirumurugan had come on a month’s holiday and had stayed in the village with his wife and children last month. He left for Chhattisgarh only on March 24 and his parents went to see him off at the Coimbatore Railway Station. Even at Coimbatore Junction, Thirumurugan assured his disturbed parents that he would serve in the force for three more years and would later seek retirement to live in the village, his father recalled.
The entire family was depending solely on Thirumurugan, as his two brothers – Dhanasekaran and Maruthu Durai – were unemployed. While Dhanasekaran is a driver of a paddy harvesting vehicle, Maruthu Durai is a daily-wager.
Thirumurguan took so much pride in being part of the CRPF that he even encouraged his brothers to join the force to serve the nation.