Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath called up the family of constable Prem Sagar, one of the two Border Security Force jawans killed by Pakistani forces on the LoC and persuaded them to cremate the body.

Mr Adityanath spoke with the family after midnight, and the soldier’s body was cremated in the wee hours of Wednesday at his village in Deoria district.

The family, on Tuesday night, had refused to cremate the body until it was shown to them. Army personnel who had brought the body in a sealed coffin tried to persuade them not to open the coffin.

For 11 hours, the family members remained firm on their stand until Mr Adityanath spoke with them. “He said he would visit us before the 13-day shraadh ceremony. He also promised a school and a memorial in my father’s name,” said Ishwar Chand, the eldest son of the Army jawan.

Saroj, the eldest daughter, had earlier said she wanted “50 heads from Pakistan” in return for her “father’s head”.

Constable Prem Sagar and Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh were part of a three-member patrol team that was near the LoC to check a snapped communication line when they were ambushed by a Pakistani Border Action Team that included soldiers and terrorists. Their mutilated bodies were found on Monday morning.

People familiar with the matter said the insurgent group Lashkar-e-Taiba could have been involved in the attack, with the backing of the Pakistani Army.