Martyred Major's last anniversary gift to his wife reached hours after news of his death

Baniwadi: Clutching tight the gifts he had sent, Sujata Dahiya, wife of Major Satish Dahiya who was killed in an encounter with terrorists in J&K’s Handwara, tries hard to fight back tears.

“It reached me after he died. He left a greeting for me which read, 'I love you Poocha, you are my inspiration', Satish" Sujata said speaking to NDTV.

Satish and Sujata would have celebrated their third marriage anniversary on Friday, had fate not turned it into an occasion of gloom.

“I am immensely proud of my husband,” says 27-year-old Sujata, welling up.

Major Satish Dahiya was leading the operation against militants holed up in a residential building in Handwara on Tuesday, but was killed in the process.

The body of the 31-year-old was brought back to his native in Haryana on Thursday, and was cremated by his two-year-old daughter Priyasha along with her uncles.

Over 800 people reportedly poured in to the funeral grounds even before his body was brought in.

Fondly recounting the conversations that he had with his cousin, Rajesh Dahiya, remember, “(He used to say) ‘I kill many jackals there. When I am back people will say that I am your brother with immense pride.’”

“I am proud of my brother, proud of his martyrdom," he added, breaking down.

Tributes also poured in on social media, including by government and Army officials.

Three other soldiers, Rifleman Ravi Kumar, Paratrooper Dharmender Kumar and Gunner Astosh Kumar, also lost their lives in the two encounters in J&K’s Handwara and Kupwara.