NSG officer Lt Col Niranjan's body to be cremated in Kerala today

Lt Col Niranjan Kumar's wife in Bengaluru on Monday.

Palakkad: The body of Lt Col EK Niranjan of the National Security Guard, who was killed in the counter-offensive against terrorists at the Pathankot air base, will be cremated on Tuesday at his ancestral home.

The body was flown in a helicopter from Bengaluru last evening, while his close relatives and colleagues came in another chopper to his Elumbulsherry village in Palakkad district.

Even though Niranjan was bought up in Bengaluru, where he did his schooling and college education, he maintained close links with the village and was last here during the Onam season.

Villagers turned out in large numbers to receive the body and were also seen at his home on Monday.

Teary-eyed people filed past the body as the martyr's family members sat near it. "He was always interested in the Army. I am proud of his sacrifice," Niranjan's father
Sivarajan said.

Niranjan's sister said, "I look at him as Arjuna who fought for his karmabhoomi."

The body is being kept at a state-run school and will be cremated with full state honours this afternoon.

Thirty-two-year-old Niranjan was commissioned in the Engineers Regiment of the Army in 2004.

Niranjan, the head of the elite bomb squad of the NSG, was killed while defusing an IED at Pathankot IAF base, on Sunday.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy paid his last respects to the officer yesterday.

Niranjan is survived by his dentist wife Radhika, 18-month-old daughter Vismaya, father Sivarajan, step-mother and brother Shashank.

The Kerala Cabinet that meets on Wednesday will decide on how to compensate the family. The Karnataka government has announced a Rs 30 lakh compensation.

(With Agency inputs)