Sushma Nand(2nd from right), wife of the martyr.

Chandigarh: Air Force personnel on Sunday paid floral tributes to Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala, a member of the IAF’s Garud Special Forces who was killed in anti-terrorist operations at Hajin in Kashmir on Saturday. The 31-year-old commando is survived by his wife Sushma Nand and a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Jigyasa Kumari, who were residing in Chandigarh. He is the third Air Force commando in recent months to be killed in anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir. Nirala’s mortal remains were airlifted from Srinagar to Chandigarh on Sunday for onward movement to his native place Badiladih village in Rohtas district of Bihar where the last rites will take place with full military honours. Among those who laid wreaths on the coffin were the Air Officer Commanding 12 Wing, Air Commodore Arun Solanki, the Air Officer Commanding 3 Base Repair Depot, Air Commodore Sanjeev Sinha, and other senior officers posted here. For the past few months, the Air Force has been embedding Garud commandos with Army formations deployed in Jammu and Kashmir for operational experience and live situational training. The Garud force was established in 2004 to provide the IAF with a specialised ground force for guarding high-value strategic assets and undertake special operations like airborne assault, special reconnaissance, combat search and rescue, anti-hijacking and hostage rescue. TNS