Kerala's Labour Ministry has renamed an industrial training institute (ITI) in honour of late NSG officer Lt Col EK Niranjan in his hometown in Elambulassery in Palakkad. The 34-year-old was killed in the operation against terrorists at the Pathankot air base on Sunday, 3 January.
The decision on renaming the institute was announced by Labour Minister Shibu Baby John in a press release just hours after the last rites of the martyr was performed in Palakkad on Tuesday noon. The ITI in Elambulassery village will now be known as Lt Col Niranjan Memorial Government ITI.
"This ITI opened in September last year and was called Elambulassery Government ITI. We decided to honour Niranjan, who laid down his life, and rename it in his memory," said the minister.
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The late NSG commando was cremated with full military honors on Tuesday and thousands arrived at his hometown to pay tributes to the brave officer. Senior officers of the NSG and Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, among many others, were present at the funeral.
On Monday morning, Niranjan's mortal remains were brought to his residence in Bengaluru, where Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other politicians paid homage to him. Later in the day, his mortal remains were brought in a helicopter to his hometown in Palakkad. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Cabinet ministers K Babu and A P Anil Kumar arrived at the Elambulassery village and paid homage to the soldier late on Monday.
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Niranjan is survived by his father Sivarajan, wife Radhika and two-year-old daughter Vismaya. While the Kerala Cabinet will decide on how to compensate the family in a meeting on Wednesday, the Karnataka government has offered a compensation of Rs 30 lakh to the kin of the Pathankot martyr.
