New Delhi: The remains of at least 282 Indian soldiers killed by the British troops and dumped in a deep well will be exhumed and given last rites, 160 years after the 1857 uprising.
The bodies of all the martyrs were dumped in the Mughal-era 12-foot-deep well located at Ajnala in Punjab.
Work to exhume the bodies will begin on February 28.
The management committee of the local Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj in Ajnala has taken the work on itself.
In fact, the well remained sub-soil until the local shrine committee began excavating it recently. The well was discovered right beneath the Sikh shrine complex.
The bodies would be taken to the Ganga for ceremonial immersion as per rituals.
The shrine committee began to excavate the area around the Gurdwara in December 2012, with the idea of locating the well and digging further.
However, the excavation was put off since continuing with it would have brought down the shrine.
On July 30, 1857, around 500 soldiers revolted at Mian Mir Cantonment in Lahore following the uprising.
They swam across the Ravi river to reach Ajnala. British soldiers killed 218 Indian soldiers at Dadian Sofian village near here while the remaining 282 were confined to a cell.
