Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s visit to deceased Border Security Force constable Prem Sagar’s family came with a touch of affluence that was as short-lived as his stay in the house. Minutes before the chief minister’s visit on May 12, Sagar’s house got a makeover with a window air conditioner, new curtains, sofa and carpet, PTI reported on Monday. However, it came as a shock for the family when the Deoria district administration uninstalled the AC and took away the sofa and carpet within 30 minutes of Adityanath’s visit.

Sagar’s family told PTI that they were taken aback by the development. “Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence...Within 15 to 30 minutes of his departure, everything was gone,” the BSF constable’s brother Dayasagar told the news agency.

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The village, too, had received some attention before the chief minister’s visit. On Thursday, the roads in Tikampaar village were cleaned, while the open drains were covered. Dayasagar later told NDTV that the whole incident was an “insult”.

Sagar was killed in an exchange of fire with alleged Pakistani forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on May 1. Heavy firing was reported along the Line of Control with Pakistan in the region, where two Indian forward posts at Kerni were targeted. The Indian Army had alleged that their Pakistani counterparts had mutilated the bodies of Sagar and another soldier who were killed during the “unprovoked” exchange of fire. The BSF constable’s family had refused to cremate his body unless the chief minister visited them.

During his visit, Adityanath handed over a cheque for Rs 4 lakh to the family. He also promised jobs to Sagar’s children and said that a martyr’s memorial and a girls’ inter-college will be set up in Tikampaar. He promised to forward a recommendation to the Centre about the family’s demand for allotment of a cooking gas agency.

Additional District Magistrate Virendra Kumar Dohrey justified the state’s actions, attempting to explain that the arrangements were part of the VIP’s visit. “If a guest comes for a visit, we have to make arrangements,” he told The Indian Express. “We have to take care of the facilities that he is accustomed to. However, I do not have information about when the AC and other things were removed from the house.”