Patna, March 3: When the body of CRPF personnel Pintu Kumar Singh, who lost his life in an anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara on Friday, was brought to his home state Bihar on Sunday morning, no leader of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was present at Patna airport. As no NDA leader turned up including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the family of the slain soldier expressed displeasure.

"It's very unfortunate that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not bother to come to pay his last respect," Sanjay Singh, uncle of the CRPF inspector, was quoted as saying by NDTV. According to reports, NDA leaders were busy with the massive Sankalp rally being held in Patna. Interestingly, speaking at Sankalp rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused opposition parties of questioning armed forces on their anti-terror operations.

Four security personnel, including Pintu Kumar Singh, were killed when a militant who was presumed to be dead suddenly rose from the debris of a house and fired indiscriminately at the security forces. A civilian was killed in subsequent clashes between the militants and security forces. Lalu Prasad Yadav Takes Dig at PM Narendra Modi’s Mega Rally in Patna, Says ‘Would Have Managed Same Crowd at a Paan Shop’.

To pay homage to Pintu Kumar Singh, district magistrate Kumar Ravi, senior police officer Garima Mallick, top officers of the Central Reserve Police Force, state Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha and Lok Janshakti Party MP Choudhary Mahboob Ali Kaiser were present at the airport. Kaiser said CM Nitish Kumar should have at least sent a deputy colleague if he was busy with the rally in Patna.

On February 16, Kumar, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi and union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had come to the airport to pay their tribute to two CRPF jawans from Bihar who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2019 04:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).