Guru had visited his family for about 10 days and reported for duty on the fateful day

Jawan H. Guru, 33, had plans of taking voluntary retirement from service and settling down at Gudigere Colony near Maddur, but that was not to be. He was one of the 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel killed in the militant attack at Pulwama in Srinagar on Thursday.

His stunned family is now waiting for the mortal remains to arrive in the village. The martyred jawan, eldest son of Honnaiah and Chikkolamma who run a dobhi shop, joined the CRPF in 2011. He had married Kalavathi just 10 months ago.

His family said that he had visited them for about 10 days and reported for duty on the fateful day. “He constructed a house in the village recently and wanted to settle down here and take care of his ageing parents,” Murthy, a friend of Guru told The Hindu.

As the news of his death reached the village, not only residents of Gudigere Colony but those from neighbouring places too arrived to console the grieving parents, wife and two brothers Anand and Madhu. Mr. Anand, employed with the Home Guards, had to be shifted to a hospital after he collapsed on hearing the news.

Land identified

Deputy Commissioner N. Manjushri, Malavalli tahsildar Geetha, Mandya MP L.R. Shivarame Gowda, and others visited the family.

The elders of the village informed them that the family had no land of their own to perform the last rites. Ms. Manjushri inspected several government lands and finalised two acres near the coconut market on the outskirts of the village for the purpose.

The body is expected to be flown to Bengaluru on Saturday and would later be taken to the village by road. The slain jawan would be given a guard of honour, said district administration sources.

Job for wife

Speaking to presspersons in Channarayapatna, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said the government would offer a job to Kalavathi.

He said he had asked the Minister in charge of Mandya district to collect information about her educational qualifications. “We will take a decision on offering her a job after collecting the required data,” he said.