The death toll in the terror attack on an Indian Army base in Uri in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir rose to 19 on Saturday, 24 September, with the death of 30-year-old Pitabas Majhi, a resident of Odisha and a jawan of the Border Security Force.
Majhi, who joined BSF in 2008, was injured during the combing operation in the immediate aftermath of the Uri terror attack, which took place on 18 September.
Majhi's death came just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Mann Ki Baat radio programme, honoured the martyrs of Uri by saying: "I pay my tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Uri terror attack. We have full faith in our Army. The culprits will definitely be punished. This is not just a loss to the families of the martyred soldiers but a loss to the whole nation."
Majhi, according to a report in the Indian Express, had come home to Danajhola village in Nuapada district of Odisha on August 26 for Rathayatra, and promised his family he would return home for Dussehra again, this time for the birth of his first child. In fact, he had even spoken to his wife on 22 September, repeating his promise.
The original attack on 18 September had led to death of 17 jawans — 13-14 of them were sleeping at the time and died in a fire resulting from the explosives the terrorists had set off in the Army base. The toll had risen to 18 the next day when Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan died at the R&R Hospital in New Delhi while undergoing treatment.
