Vaishali: Raju Kumar, a 29-year-old constable in the Border Security Force (BSF), died of a heart attack on Friday evening while on leave at his native village in Vaishali district, Bihar. Kumar had recently returned from Jammu and Kashmir after participating in ‘Operation Sindoor’, an anti-terror mission conducted earlier this month.
He was posted with the 175th battalion of the BSF in Uri and had come home to Sahadullapur Chakfarid Madhurapur village on May 17 to attend a family bereavement. His sudden death occurred around 5pm on Friday after he complained of chest pain. Despite being rushed to a local clinic, he could not be revived.
The soldier’s funeral took place on Saturday at Gopalpur Ghat in Bidupur. In a deeply emotional scene, Kumar’s father performed the last rites while holding his two-and-a-half-year-old grandson Sudhanshu in his lap. As the pyre was lit, chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” echoed from mourners, many of whom had gathered from nearby villages.
Raju Kumar’s brother-in-law, Ravindra Rai, confirmed that the soldier had been part of ‘Operation Sindoor’—a reported cross-border strike on terror camps in Pakistan on the night of 6–7 May. “After training in Kishanganj, he was first posted to Srinagar and later to Uri. He had taken part in Operation Sindoor,” Rai said.
Raju Kumar joined the BSF in 2022. His family, already dealing with hardship, is now in mourning. His mother passed away during his childhood, and he was the only son of Brajnandan Rai, 55. Kumar is survived by his wife and two children—Sudhanshu and five-year-old daughter Sakshi.
Fellow BSF jawan Jitendra Kumar Rai, who was deployed alongside him in Uri, said their leaves were initially cancelled due to the tense situation at the border. “Later, the situation normalised and Raju came home on the 17th,” he said.
The village has demanded that Kumar be honoured with a state funeral and wrapped in the national flag. “He served the nation and returned after an operation. He deserves to be cremated with full military honours,” a local resident said.
