Soldier Tasnim Rifat, who was killed when a shell exploded inside a tank during firing practice in Chattogram, was buried with military honours in his family graveyard in Rajshahi on Thursday, beside his mother’s grave.

His body was flown by a special Bangladesh Army helicopter to Rajshahi Cantonment on Thursday morning before being taken by road to Bindarampur village in Damkura union of Paba upazila, where he was born.

After funeral prayers following Zuhr, he was buried in the family graveyard in the presence of relatives, thousands of villagers and senior army officers.

Relatives and villagers mourned as his body arrived in the village.

Rifat, 28, was a member of the 15 Independent Armoured Squadron of the Bangladesh Army’s Armoured Corps. He and another soldier were killed on the spot on Wednesday when a shell accidentally exploded inside a tank during firing practice at the Hathazari field firing range in Chattogram at around noon.

His father, Asadul Islam, was left speechless by the loss of his son.

Rifat’s mother died of cancer three years ago. He leaves behind a wife and a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.