The Hindu : Front Page : Young Army officer killed in Kashmir

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Monday, Oct 09, 2006
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Young Army officer killed in Kashmir

K. Manikandan

The Pammal resident had passed out of OTA in March

FROM THE ALBUM: Lt. N. Parthiban with his parents, Tamil Selvi and Major V. Natarajan (retired), during the pipping ceremony at the Officers Training Academy in March.

TAMBARAM: An Army officer from Pammal near Tambaram, who passed out of the Officers Training Academy here in March, was killed in an encounter with militants near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

Lieutenant N. Parthiban, son of a retired Army officer, belonged to 5 JAK LI (Light Infantry). His body was brought to Chennai on Sunday.

He had spoken to his parents over phone only on Friday, stating that this team had killed a few militants and he himself shot dead three of them in the Line of Control area.

His father, Major (retired) V. Natarajan, had served in Kargil during the conflict and retired last year. Parthiban completed his higher secondary education from Kendriya Vidyalaya in IIT, Chennai, and graduated in Physics from Bishop Heber College, Tiruchi. Last year, he cleared the Combined Defence Services Examination and the interview at Bangalore.

Lt. Parthiban had enrolled for M.Sc. in Physics when the call from OTA came. "His desire to serve the nation by being a part of the Armed Forces only intensified after he joined the NCC in college," said Major Natarajan, who belonged to the Corps of Signals Regiment.

Several college mates of the martyred officer thronged his house in LIC Colony, Pammal. Among them was Suganth Selvaraj, whose elder brother Lt. Sahaya Selvaraj was killed during an operation to flush out militants in Kashmir in 2003 and was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry. Lt. Parthiban's friends described him as patriotic, committed and willing to teach and help others. "He was an expert in map reading and firing and received gold medals for the same during the Tal Sainik camp in Madurai in October 2003," said F.J. Samuel, his senior in NCC.

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