New Delhi: On Friday, The nation bid a teary-eyed adieu to 40 martyrs of CRPF, who were killed in the dastardly attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. The mortal remains of the brave men were airlifted by an IAF aircraft from Srinagar and brought to New Delhi, where PM Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, three service chiefs and several other political leaders including Congress president Rahul Gandhi paid tributes to the martyrs. The bodies were further despatched to their respective native towns where they will be cremated in full state honours.

The nation stood united in anger and grief as protests and candle marches were organised throughout the country to pay homage to bravehearts who lost lives in the attack. PM Modi said on Friday evening "We salute you, brave sons of Mother India. You lived for the nation and served the country with unparalleled valour. We stand in solidarity with the bereaved families,".

We salute you, brave sons of Mother India.

You lived for the nation and served the country with unparalleled valour.

We stand in solidarity with the bereaved families. pic.twitter.com/tav2J3hSMI

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 15, 2019

According to the list shared by the agencies, 10 soldiers are from Uttar Pradesh, four from Punjab, five from Rajasthan and two each from Maharashtra and Uttarakhand. The other soldiers are from Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir,  Karnataka, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. Earlier during the day, PM Narendra Modi assured the nation that the security forces have been given 'full freedom' to take appropriate action in order to avenge the attack. In the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting that took place Friday, India revoked the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted to Pakistan.

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Earlier, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited the site and collected forensic samples for a further probe in the incident. Briefing the media, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited Pulwama on Friday morning, said that security of elements who are on payrolls of ISI should be revoked. Later during the day, India's foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale met representatives of 25 nations and launched a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has cancelled her prior commitments for the next two days as she will be attending the last rites of the martyrs in two states.

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