Army veteran KP Dhalasamanta passes away

New Delhi: Retired Odia army officer and a 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War veteran, Lt General KP Dhalsamanta passed away at the age of 70 on Monday at a private hospital in the national capital.

Dhalsamanta had been undergoing treatment at the private hospital for about a month, said family sources.

A veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Dhalsamanta was the former Director General of the Rashtriya Rifle and member of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) at Kolkata.

Several leaders including Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed grief on the demise of Dhalasamanta.

“Odisha mourns the loss of one of its most illustrious sons, Lt Gen (retd) KP Dhal Samanta. He was a veteran of 1971 War, Op Blue Star, Siachen & Kargil War. A proud alumnus of Sainik School, BBSR retired as DG of Rashtriya Rifles India’s main counter insurgency force in J&K,” tweeted the Chief Minister.

“Pained to learn about the demise of retd. Lt Gen KPD Samanta. A proud proponent of Odisha, its culture and values within the Armed Forces, Shri Samanta was one of the finest military generals that Odisha has produced. A veteran of military operations, his death is a huge loss,” tweeted Pradhan.