Soon enough, bullets were showered from the bunkers above. Along with Lieutenant Colonel R Vishwanathan were Captain Vikram, Lance Havaldar Ram Kumar, Naik Samundar Singh and gunner Munish Kumar. Their bodies were recovered by the Army the next morning and sent back on their last journey to their hometowns. The nation paid homage to them.

The Indian Express team that visited 31-year-old Naik Samunder Singh's home in Sangi village of Rohtak district found the village elders waiting for his body near the primary school building at around 7.30 am today. ``Sangi gaaon ka vir saput aane wala hai (Sangi's fearless son will arrivesoon),'' they said. The women had gathered in the soldier's recently-built home. The children waited near the gate. The men had walked upto the main road to get a glimpse of their hero.

``Every third house in Sangi sends it's sons to the Army. But this is the first time that our son has laid his life down for the nation,'' said Shyam Sunder Singh, a village elder. Samunder's wife, 24-year-old Saroj, sat in their home waiting for him. ``When he came home in March this year, he laid the foundation stone of this house. I wanted him to see what a beautiful home I have managed to build for us. I did not know our home would welcome his body,'' she said.

The only persons oblivious to the goings-on were Samunder Singh's children - four-year-old Arjun and two-year-old Sweety. ``Mother says Papa will come home today,'' Sweety told this reporter. ``I will ask him him to buy me a Mango Frooti.'' Arjun played outside his house with a toy camera. Samunder had bought the camera from the Army canteen on his last visithome in March this year. ``Whenever Papa comes home, he gets gifts for us,'' Arjun said, pointing to the shampoos, casseroles, sauce bottles, albums and other knick-knacks on a shelf.

The children were taken to a neighbour's house when Samunder's body arrived in a white Maruti van at around 10 am. Samunder's maternal uncle, Colonel (retd) R C Mehra, walked beside his body. Mehra had brought up Samunder since he was four, and enrolled him in the Army 11 years ago.

As the van approached the school building, the villagers showered petals, shouting slogans in praise of their soldier. Amongst the officials at the funeral were Rohtak-based Col Ashok Kumar, Member of Parliament Bhupinder Singh Hooda, members of the local administration, Haryana police and members of the Legislative Assembly. After the State honours, the villagers carried the body to his wife who sat veiled inside her home.

``I want to see his face,'' Saroj cried. The body was tied in a white cloth. ``No, you cannot remove the cloth,''Samunder's father, Deepchand Singh, said, adding, ``My son has been hit by two bullets in the chest and two more in the abdomen.''

Minutes later, the body was carried to the cremation ground. For the first time in Sangi's history, women walked down to the cremation ground. ``Women are forbidden from entering the cremation ground. But there are no rules for Samunder,'' said the men. Following the gun salute, the soldier's body was consigned to the flames.

While the villagers are proud of their son, Samunder's maternal uncle breathed fire. ``We came to know about Samunder's death from the newspapers on the morning of June 4. The Army had not informed us. We could not even confirm his death from the Army headquarters at Delhi. The duty officer did not know a thing,'' said Mehra.

``My nephew has sacrificed his life for the country. What has the Government done in return. They haven't even offered his wife a job,'' Mehra said. The Haryana Government has announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 to SamunderSingh's family. The road from Jassi to Sangi village will be named after the soldier, a Government spokesperson said. Samunder's family confirmed his death from the Srinagar post last morning.