Slain colonel remembered as a polite officer who was helpful to civilians

Colonel Viplav Tripathi, who was killed in an ambush set by terrorists in Manipur’s Churachanpur on Saturday, had taken his family to an official posting for the first time. His wife Anuja, 36, son Abir, eight, and four personnel of the Assam Rifles were also killed in the incident.

Local journalists said Col Tripathi, the Commanding Officer of Khuga Battalion of Assam Rifles, was a polite officer who was helpful to civilians.

The late officer’s father, Subhash Tripathi, 76, is a journalist and editor of the Hindi daily Dainik Bayar, and mother Asha is a retired librarian. The family hails from Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.

“The entire family had celebrated Diwali this year in Manipur, where Viplav was posted. His parents returned to Raigarh on November 6,” his maternal uncle Rajesh Patnaik told PTI.

Also read: Assam Rifles Colonel, wife & son among 7 killed in militant attack in Manipur

The bodies of the slain will be flown to their hometowns on Sunday, sources said. 

A special flight from Imphal, Manipur, will fly the bodies and is scheduled to reach the Guwahati airport in Assam first. It will later fly to Panagarh airbase in West Bengal, they said. From there, the flight will head to Raipur and then to Jaipur. 

The plane is scheduled to land at Jaipur at 11pm, the sources added. 

The four Assam Rifles personnel were: Rifleman Shyamal Das, Rfn Suman Swargiary, Rfn RP Meena and Rfn Khatnei Konyak. 

Rfn Das was a resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal and Rfn Swargiary belonged to Baksa district in Assam. Rfn Konyak was from Mon district in Nagaland, while Rfn Meena was a resident of Dausa district in Rajasthan. 

The body of Rfn Konyak will be sent by helicopter to Nagaland, the sources said.