He got martyred everyday: Kin of Lt Col who dies after 8 yrs in coma

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, December 24

Having remained in a comatose stage for over eight years after a bullet hit his lower jaw in a counter-insurgency operation in Kupwara, Lt Col Karanbir Singh Natt breathed his last early this morning at the Military Hospital, Jalandhar.

For all these years, his family, including his father Col Jagtar Singh Natt, his wife Navpreet Kaur and his daughters Guneet and Ashmeet (aged 19 and 10 years) had been taking turns to attend to him in room number 13 of the Officers’ Ward at the Military Hospital.

Navpreet said, “He used to look at our faces and we felt as if he wanted to say something. But he never responded. While my elder daughter had idea about what had happened, but Ashmeet, who was just 1.5 years when this incident occurred, kept asking me all these years as to when her dad will finally get up. It was around four years ago that I told her everything. We felt as if my husband got martyred every single day in these eight years.”

Juggling between her home and the hospital daily, Navpreet said she just had two things on mind. “I wanted to give full care to my husband, preparing homemade juices, soup and liquid meals and taking them to the hospital for feeding through pipe. I also had to ensure that my daughters never got neglected. Thankfully, my elder daughter has got enrolled at Sri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi,” she said.

Recalling the unfateful day, Col Jagtar Singh Natt said, “It was November 2015 that my son got hit by bullets fired by a terrorist who had been hiding inside an abandoned hut in the dense forest in Kupwara. My son, too, fired back and killed the ultra, thus saving three of his men. He was airlifted to the Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi. However, he suffered hypoxia and cardiac arrest. He remained there for 1.5 years and was later referred to the Military Hospital in Jalandhar.”

He said, “Leaving my house in Batala with my younger brother, we all came here and settled in Jalandhar, so that we could take care of him. The Army provided us accommodation.”

Lt Col Natt was a Sena Medal awardee. He had joined the Short Service Commission in the Guards Regiment in 1998. In 2012, he was relieved after completing 14 years of service. He did LLB and MBA and took up a civil job. But he insisted on going back to the armed forces and joined 160 TA unit when life took a tragic turn.