The body of Ngashepam Manoranjan Singh, the Assistant Commandant of the elite anti-Naxal Cobra force who fell to Naxal bullets during Friday’s encounter in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, was flown to his home in Imphal on Tuesday. While his body was first taken to his mother’s house in the Regional Institute of Medical Science Colony in the city, the last rites were performed at his native village Yurembam Mamang Leikai, in the presence of senior CRPF and Manipur Police officers including Imphal Range CRPF DIG Madan Singh Raghav, family members, relatives and other well-wishers.

Singh (born 1979), Assistant Commandant with the elite 201 Cobra unit, died while tackling a large group of Naxalites inside the thick jungles near village Singanmadu under Chintagupha police station in Chhattisgarh on September 18. Rakesh Chaurasia, another Assistant Commandant of the same unit laid down his life in the same incident. Both men laid down their lives trying to divert Naxal fire from their jawans, saving many lives in the process.

Singh had joined the 38 batch of the CRPF as a Direct Appointed Gazetted Officer (DAGO) in 2007 and was later appointed as Assistant Commandant of the first Battalion 210 Combat Battalion for Resolute Action ‘Cobra’ unit of the CRPF set up by the Centre earlier this year for resolute action against the Naxal menace. “He was a very courageous officer, and his men managed to eliminate as many as 50 Naxals until the marauders specifically targeted the two officers,” said Deep Kumar Sirohi, DIG (Administration & Operations) at the CRPF’s Manipur-Nagaland headquarters at Imphal.

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