Pulwama attack: Odisha CM increases ex-gratia to Rs 25 lakh for kin of two CRPF jawans

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], Feb 16 (ANI): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced to enhance the ex-gratia to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 10 lakh for the kin of two CRPF jawans from the state who were killed in Pulwama terror attack on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir.   
Chief Minister Patnaik, who had earlier announced Rs 10 lakh as ex-gratia to the kin of the slain Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, also said that the state would bear the cost of education of the deceased soldiers’ children.
The two CRPF soldiers from the state—Manoj Kumar Behra and PK Sahoo—were among 40 jawans who were killed in the terror attack on Thursday in J&K’s Pulwama district.
Their families and villagers had expressed unhappiness over the amount of compensation announced by Chief Minister Patnaik earlier on Friday for the kin of two slain soldiers.
As directed by Chief Minister Patnaik, all educational institutions in the state observed two minutes’ silence earlier on Saturday as a mark of tribute to the slain soldiers.
As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying them on Thursday. The bus was extensively damaged in the blast.
The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.
Soon after the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by Islamabad, claimed the responsibility for the attack, saying the attack was carried out by its suicide bomber. (ANI)