33-year-old gunner Saurabh Farate from Pune was one of the three soldiers martyred in the Pampore militant attack on Saturday. Family is still reeling from shock while locals prepare for last rites
Saurabh Farate
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Pune: “Mother, please take care of yourself and the family. My daughters need their grandmother to tell them stories about warriors. I am heading to the border, nothing will happen to me...” This was the last message 33-year-old gunner Saurabh Nandakumar Farate, one of the three soldiers martyred in the Pampore militant attack on Saturday, communicated to his mother in the Bekhrai Nagar village.
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Farate, who recruited in the Army in 2004 and served for 13 years, was a resident of the Gurudutt Colony in Ganganagar in Phurshungi. His previous postings included stints in Odisha, Nashik, Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir. While Farate married Sonali in 2009, they welcomed twins Aarohi and Aardhya in 2015, both of who turned one year on October 24, this year.
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Saurabh’s father, Nandakishor said, “His mother used to call him daily and on Saturday morning too, he spoke to his mother one last time. Incidentally, the last few days, she had been restless, and then a few hours later, my younger son, Rohit, who is also in the Army, informed us about the Pampore attack. One mother losing their soldier child daily, today was my family’s turn and tomorrow will be another mother. Why is this government so mum on the attack?”
A shocked wife
An upset Sonali said, “We just celebrated our twin daughters’ first birthday and on December 9, he returned to J&K. I cannot digest this. He cannot do this to me; his dream was to see his daughters join the Indian Army or Air Force. He had promised to return in five months and go to our hometown to holiday together.”
Farate’s final rituals will be performed on Monday in Pune.
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