Shauraya Chakra Awardee Colonel NS Bal passed away in Bengaluru on 9 April, defence ministry offered to fly deceased body to the family

Colonel NS Bal, a Special Forces offer who commanded the elite 2 Para unit of the Army, lost his battle against a rare cancer on Friday April 10, 2020. The previous day, he had posted a selfie that showed him smiling on a hospital bed in Bengaluru. He was 39 years old and the winner of Shaurya Chakraion in the upper ranges in Kashmir’s Lolab Valley where he and his buddies chased the terrorist and shot dead two of them in close combat. He had also been part of a United Nations mission in Congo. Having done his initial schooling from Army Public School in Dehli’s Dhaula Kuan, Colonel NS Bal joined the National Defence Academy in 1998 and was commissioned into 2 Para in 2002.

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Colonel NS Bal took over the commanding officer of the Bangalore based 2 Para on 20 March 2018. A lump in his right arm was first spotted in May 2018 and subsequent tests revealed a very rare form of cancer. Being the CO he didn’t took rest. He was put on chemotherapy but continued to do his work, sources said. He was known as absolute fitness freak he did not allowed cancer come in way of his life. Despite being sick, he continued with his fitness regime that involved 50 pull ups with one hand, he even ran a 21 km half-marathon in spite of cancer hampering his normal breathing.

In January 2019 his right arm had to be amputated but he continued to serve as the CO Bal did after he came back after his surgery in January was to modify his cycle. Such was his positivity and zest for life that he modified his bike on his own and made sure both brakes were on his left. He even learnt to fire from his left hand with the same ease at the right. It was only in April that it was realised that the cancer had spread to other parts of the body. It was then that he handed over charge and sought full-fledged treatment. He continued to stay at para center in Bengaluru.

Shaurya Chakra awardee Colonel NS Bal passed away in Bengaluru on April 9. The Defence Ministry offered to bring his body back to Delhi using a service aircraft but the officer was dismissed by the Colonel’s Bal’s parents who live in Gurugram with his siblings. Instead, the family chose to opt for Colonel’s Bal last rites in Bengaluru itself. The information from source in the Defence Ministry is that Colonel Bal’s family lives in Bengaluru but his father, a 78 years old retired lieutenant colonel, had requested that an Indian Air Force aircraft take him to Bengaluru for the cremation of his son.

The defence minister accepted the request of the old and offered to transport Colonel Bal’s body to Delhi and organise a cremation ceremony with full honors at Brar Square. However, the parents insisted on securing permission to move to Bengaluru via road.
Owing to the corona virus outbreak, army men have been issued strict instructions to ensure that anyone moving from one location to another must be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days.

The army officer’s parents are travelling by road from Gurugram to Bengaluru to attend his last rites amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown as hurdles ensured that an Air Force aircraft is not provided to them.

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