Villagers of Malkapur in Maharashtra's Buldhana district 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 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 to ensure Pakistan and terror groups operating from its soil stay in line and don't dare any misadventure against India.
Advocating an iron-fisted response to terrorism, the villager said, "We are proud of the Indian Air Force for the air strikes. If Pakistan kills one of ours, we should kill a hundred of their soldiers. Our village lost one hero in the Pulwama attack and we were in deep shock. But now we believe his martyrdom was not in vain."
Rajput (49) had been a trooper with the paramilitary force for 23 years.
He is survived by his wife Sushma and two sons.
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