Pulwama attack: PM Modi asks ministers in BJP-ruled states, MPs to attend last rites of martyred CRPF jawans

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday directed the ministers in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states and party MPs to attend the last rites of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, who were martyred in Pulwama terror attack, in their respective states and constituencies.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force paid tributes to the CRPF personnel.

The mortal remains of nearly 40 CRPF personnel, wrapped in tricolour, were brought to Palam airport on Friday evening.

Most of the soldiers, who fell victim to the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama that shook the nation, hailed from Uttar Pradesh.

Ten of the 40 martyred soldiers were from Uttar Pradesh, five from Rajasthan, four were from Punjab while two each belonged to Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.

Other soldiers who lost their lives were from Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam, and West Bengal.

Nearly 40  CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed the responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast.

Reflecting the outrage in the country, Prime Minister Modi earlier on Friday said, "The blood of Indians is boiling." He issued a clear warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished."