PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced that the Patradevi-Mopa stretch of the national highway would be named after freedom fighter Sardar Karnail Singh Benipal, who was killed at Patradevi in 1955 while fighting for the State’s liberation from Portuguese rule.
Sawant on Wednesday paid a visit to Charanjeet Kaur, wife of the martyr, in Haryana’s Ambala, about 45 km from Chandigarh. Kaur was presented with a cheque of Rs 10 lakh.
Addressing mediapersons there after meeting Kaur, Sawant said that he had promised the martyr’s family that the new Patradevi-Mopa highway would be named after Sardar Karnail Singh Benipal.
Sawant said that the family had made the request which the government has accepted.
“Goa is eternally indebted to the satyagrahis, freedom fighters and their families who laid down their lives for its liberation,” said Sawant, who was accompanied by BJP Ambala city MLA Aseem Goel.
Benipal had sacrificed his life at the young age of 25 for Goa’s liberation. He was hit by bullets on the chest on August 15, 1955 at Patradevi in the coastal State.
