Sepoy Vijay Kumar, posted with the Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles, who was killed in an encounter in Shopian district was cremated with full state honours at his native village Makari in Bilaspur district. The martyr’s body reached his house. Villagers in large numbers gathered at the cremation ground to pay their last respects. The braveheart’s wife and two sons (five and seven) were inconsolable. The gunfight erupted at Drusoo Behrampora village when teams of the police, Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF’s 92 and 172 battalions launched a cordon-and-search operation following inputs about the presence of militants. Vivek Bhatia, Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, who was present at the cremation, said the state govt would extend all possible support to the soldier’s family.