Odishatv Bureau

Kendrapara: A soldier of the Indian Army and a war veteran Saila Bahadur Gurum died at his residence here last night.

He was 85 and is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Though Gurum was born in a village Lapark in the Gorkha district of Nepal, he stayed at a house close to Kendrapara Municipality office here and served the civic body after retirement.

Gurum had participated in the Indo-China war in 1962.

Later in 1965, he fought against Pakistan in the bordering areas of Punjab during the Indo-Pak war. He also fought against Pakistanis in the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971.

Gurum had suffered bullet injuries on his right leg during the Bangladesh war.

After retirement, he joined the Kendrapara Municipality in 1974.

The body was cremated in Swargadwar at Puri today.

Mahesh Kar the president of the district unit of the ex-servicemen's association, former minister Bhagabat Prasad Mohanty, chairman of the Kendrapara Municipality, Dhiren Kumar Sahoo and others condoled the death of the war veteran.

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