The body of Captain Nirmal Sivarajan, who drowned in the Bachwada river at Narmadapuram in Madhya Pradesh, was cremated here on Friday evening with full military honours.
His body was brought here in the afternoon. The 32-year-old Army officer, who hailed from Mamangalam in the city, was reported missing four days ago, as he was driving back to Pachmarhi on August 15 after meeting his wife, a Lieutenant posted in Jabalpur. They had married earlier this year. He was undergoing training at the Army Education Corps centre at Suratgarh, Rajasthan.
As per reports, his car fell into the swollen Bachwada river. His body was found entangled in a tree in the river, about two km from where the car was found, on Thursday.
Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba and Kerala Industries Minister P. Rajeeve were among those who paid their last respects to the departed soldier.
Captain Sivarajan’s friend and classmate John A.V. remembered him as a smart student and NCC cadet when they were pursuing B.A. (Economics) at Sacred Heart College, Thevara. “Helpful and very much attached to his friends, he motivated me and many others to join the NCC. He was an expert in scuba diving, and might have in all probability been washed away due to severe undercurrents in the swollen river after his car fell into it ,” said Mr. John.