Nitish Kumar’s cavalcade passed through the same route as the truck was on when he was on his way back home after watching a film. (Source: PTI)

The truck carrying Sukma martyrs’ mortal remains was halted enroute to Patna airport to let Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s convoy pass – the brave soldiers had lost their lives in the recent Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh. According to a video released by Times Now, the Bihar CM did not even stop to pay homage to the 6 CRPF jawans from Bihar who were killed in the attack on April 24. Nitish Kumar’s cavalcade passed through the same route as the truck was on when he was on his way back home after watching a film.

Watch the video here:

Truck carrying Sukma martyrs halted to let Nitish Kumar’s convoy pass pic.twitter.com/ltHBt1O9uA — NewsX (@NewsX) April 26, 2017

Calling Bihar CM’s move insensitive and unfortunate, Ram Kripal Yadav, who is the MoS for Rural Development, told Times Now that it is surprising that the CM did not have time to stop and pay homage to the brave souls though his residence is very close to the Patna Airport. Yadav also expressed his disappointment that none of the ministers from CM’s office arrived at the airport where the martyr’s bodies had reached.

He further said that the CM should have stopped after seeing the martyrs’ vehicle and saluted the brave souls. India Today website reported that neither CM Nitish Kumar nor Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav went to the airport to pay tribute to the jawans despite being just around 100 kms away.

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On Monday, 25 bravehearts from the 74th battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in Sukma after being ambushed by Maoists. The dead bodies of the six jawans, who were from Bihar, were flown from Raipur and reached Patna on April 25 in the evening.

Though both CM and Deputy CM did not make it to the airport, other officials including Patna DM Sanjay Agarwal, SSP Maharaj and JD(U) leader Shayam Rajak were present to pay tribute to the jawans, reported India Today. The Bihar government has announced a monetary compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the martyrs. The jawans were buried later with full state honours.