The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Gen. Singh offers all help to Vasant’s kin

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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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Karnataka

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Gen. Singh offers all help to Vasant’s kin

Staff Reporter

The visit by the Chief of Army Staff is a great honour, says the late colonel’s father

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Great moment: Chief of Army Staff General J.J. Singh and his wife Anupama Singh with family members of Col. Vasant at their residence in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: Chief of Army Staff, General J. J. Singh, on Saturday called on Subhashini, wife of Colonel Vasant Venugopal, and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family at their Lower Palace Orchards residence here.

Gen. Singh, accompanied by his wife Anupama Singh, spent close to half-an-hour, talking with Ms. Subhashini’s daughters, Rukmini (10) and Yashoda (7).

The media was kept at bay, and his officers conveyed to journalists waiting outside that the General did not think that a media interaction would befit a solemn occasion such as this one.

N.K. Venugopal, father of Col. Vasant who was killed in Kashmir recently, briefed the media after the General’s departure. “The visit by the Chief of Army Staff is a great honour,” he said. “The General has offered to help the family in every way possible. But what can we possibly want?” he sighed. In his interaction with the media, Mr. Venugopal displayed tremendous courage and was calm and composed throughout. He said, “My son had a reputation for being a ferocious fighter, yet he was a tender human being…his ultimate sacrifice has left a void in our hearts, but he has also made us very, very proud.”

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