Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday handed over the urn carrying the ‘sacred earth’ brought from the place of burial of 1971 war martyr Albert Ekka to his family at Jari village in Gumla district.
Albert Ekka and his statue in Ranchi
Das called on the martyr’s wife Balamdina at her residence, paid tributes at the soldier’s statue before addressing the Martyr Festival at the village organised on the 45th martyrdom of Ekka.
Recalling the soldier’s gallant fight against Pakistani troops in the war of 1971, Das said the state would always stand by martyrs and former soldiers.
Ekka, who was posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra, the country’s highest military decoration, was buried at Dulki village near Agartala.
Das said the urn would be under the safe custody of the Gumla district deputy commissioner and a martyr memorial would be constructed after a 10-member team headed by a tribal leader, Ratan Tirkey, would visit and return from the burial place near Agartala on December 27.
An Army representative had on November 30 handed over the urn to Das after the state initiated to bring it after Ekka’s wife Balamdina requested it for adoration.
Before visiting the martyr’s Jari village, Das and Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu garlanded the statue of Ekka in Ranchi.