Gone in 30 minutes: AC, carpet taken back from BSF martyr’s home after CM's visit

The family members of slain Border Security Force head constable Prem Sagar may have been pleasantly bemused when the Deoria district administration in Uttar Pradesh installed an air conditioner, a sofa and a carpet at their home ahead of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's visit on Friday.

But it turned out to be a cruel joke, as the trappings vanished within minutes of the chief minister's departure.

According to a PTI report, Sagar's family members said they were taken aback when the authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet soon after the chief minister left.

"Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence ...within 15 to 30 minutes of his departure, everything was gone," Dayasagar, the brother of the fallen BSF trooper, said.

There was no official comment on the incident.

The Deoria administration had installed the air conditioners, put up new curtains, a sofa and carpet in the living room where the chief minister was to meet the family.

A day before the CM's visit, the dusty roads of the village were cleaned up, and drains which were always open before were covered, the report adds.

Head Constable Sagar was on patrol duty on 1 May along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch when Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) crossed the LoC and ambushed the patrol team. While the rest took cover, Sagar and Naik Subedar Paramjeet Singh of the Army were left behind.

They were killed and their bodies mutilated.

Sagar's family had refused to cremate his body, insisting that the chief minister visit them. They agreed to hold the last rites only after the chief minister spoke to them.

Adityanath visited Sagar's family on 12 May at his native village Tikampaar and presented them a cheque for Rs4 lakh. He also reportedly promised employment to Sagar's children after they complete their studies.

The chief minister said a shaheed smarak (martyr's memorial) and a girls inter college will be set up in the village in memory of the slain trooper.

He also promised a road to connect the village to the main road.

With regard to a demand for a gas agency for the family, he had said a recommendation would be sent to the central government.