Two-minute silence observed for slain CRPF jawans at PM Modi's event in Maharashtra

A two-minute silence was observed during a public function attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Yavatmal district on Saturday to pay homage to the 40 CRPF personnel killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama.

Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Hansraj Ahir, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao were present at the event.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

At the event in Pandharkawada here, the prime minister inaugurated an Eklavya Model Residential School for tribal students and handed over the keys of houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to some of the beneficiaries.

Modi flaged off the Ajni (Nagpur)-Pune train service through video link and also distributed certificates and cheques under the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MSRLM) to women Self-Help Groups.

He will inaugurate the Lower Panazara medium project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchan Yojana (PMKSY) in Dhule district of Maharashtra later in the day.

Modi will also lay foundation stones of Sulwade Jamphal Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme and Dhule City Water Supply Scheme.

The prime minister is also scheduled to lay foundation stone of Dhule-Nardana and Jalgaon Manmad third railway line, besides flagging off the Bhusaval-Bandra Khandesh Express through video link.