Pune based ex-army officer killed in Gaza, family awaits mortal remains
The 46-year-old officer was killed in the Rafah region of Gaza on Monday after his vehicle came under attack.
According to the family members of Colonel Waibhav Anil Kale (retd), who was killed in Gaza on Monday, the last ceremonies for the former Indian army officer will take place in Pune two days after his body is flown via Cairo. This is the first instance of an international agency employee being killed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Two months ago, Kale enlisted with the United Nations as a Security Coordination Officer. He is survived by his Son Vedant, daughter Radhika and wife Amrita.
The 46-year-old officer was killed on Monday when an attack on his car occurred in the Rafah area of Gaza. While Colonel Ameya Kale, his cousin, is an army officer, his brother, Group Captain Vishal Kale is a senior officer in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
“We are in touch with the embassy and other government departments,” Ameya said when reached by Hindustan Times. The family will choose the day and hour of the final ceremonies. We are in a state of grief and mourning, thus the whole family has unanimously decided not to talk more right now.
On Monday, Waibhav’s car caught fire and he tragically lost his life en route to a hospital in the Rafah of Gaza, Palestine.
He moved to Pune recently, and the family members told HT on Tuesday that he started working for the UN three weeks ago as a security service coordinator.
The last rituals of the former army officer will be held in Pune a couple of days after his remains are transported from Cairo, Egypt, according to his brother-in-law, Wing Commander (Retd) Prasant Karde.
According to Karde, a senior commander with IndiGo, Col Kale was attacked while driving in a car flying the UN flag.
Born in Nagpur, Waibhav went to Somalwar High School there. Karde told HT that the former infantry officer joined the UN to further his career and take part in humanitarian missions.
While Waibhav sadly passed away from his gunshot wounds after the attack, another officer in the car is in critical condition and is getting treatment. Karde said that Waibhav’s remains are being flown from Cairo and will, pending flight availability, land in Mumbai or Pune.
Here is what Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India said in a press release
Following his 1998 entry into the Indian Army, Waibhav served in the armed forces for more than twenty years. He was an instructor at the Army Infantry School in Mhow and formerly an officer in the National Rifles in Kashmir. He also commanded 11 JK Rifles there. Along with serving with the army’s counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations unit, he was also stationed in the northeast and the Siachen glacier.
The UN, meantime, has demanded that the event be thoroughly investigated.
