Major Kaustubh Rane was promoted as Major in January this year

by Sandhya Nair

MUMBAI: Major Kaustubh Rane (29) who was among the four Indian Army solider martyred in an encounter on the Line of Control (LOC) in north Kashimir's Gurez sector of Bandipora district, around 125 km from Srinagar, on Tuesday was a Mira Road resident and had been promoted to a Major in January.

The news of the death of their only son reached to the parents Prakash and Jyoti in the wee hours at their first floor Hiral Sagar building, Sheetal Nagar, Mira Road. The Rane's were planning to head to their native town in Konkan when news of Kaustubh reached them.

The family has been residing in Mira Road for over 30 years and Prakash is fondly referred to as 'Rane Kaka' in the locality. Residents said that the parents, both retired, took pride in the fact that their son was a soldier. Kaustubh too was keen on joining the army since a very long time. He had completed six years in the job.

Kaustubh grew up in the locality and went to the nearby Holy Cross School. Neighbours recalled him as a soft spoken and jovial person who stopped by to speak to even his acquaintances. While his parents were in shock and did not speak, his uncle Pratap Rane said that it was Kaustubh who would call up his parents as and when possible.

Kaustubh, who belonged to the Army's 36 Rashtriya Rifles left behind his wife Kanika and two-and-a-half year old son who are in their native town in Konkan and are expected to arrive in Mumbai soon.

The firing broke out at around 1 am when a group of armed terrorists tried to infiltrate into the Indian territory.

The alert soldiers foiled the infiltration bid by the group from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). The other soldiers have been identified as Rifleman Mandeep Singh (26) of Shivpuri in Uttrakhand, Rifleman Hameer Singh (28), of village Pokhriyal in Uttrakhand and Vikramjeet Singh (25) of village Tepla in the Ambala district of Haryana.