Mumbai: Villagers of Malkapur in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district on Tuesday had a special reason to smile after the pre-dawn air strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s terror camps in Pakistan. CRPF trooper Sanjay Rajput who was among the 40 personnel killed in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack was a resident of Malkapur village, over 500 kilometres from here.
Heart-wrenching gloom had descended on the village following Rajput’s martyrdom and on Tuesday’s strikes, in which an estimated 350 Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists perished, has brought back the smiles on villagers’ faces. Several of them distributed sweets and slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai” continued to rent the air periodically amid drums setting a celebratory beat in the village. Calling the air strikes an apt reply, a villager said such action was needed from time to time. -Agencies
