The “clarification” came after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi shared on X a video purportedly of Ajay’s father who stated that they had not received any money. Gandhi also cited Ajay’s case to allege that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has “lied” in Parliament about the issue of compensation to families of martyred Agniveers.

A senior officer in J&K Police, who declined to be named, Saturday told The Indian Express that the “verification/investigation report” for the death of the Agniveer had been sent “a few days ago” and was no longer pending.

When asked if it was routine for such reports to take six months to be submitted, the officer said that since this fatality had taken place ahead of the border fence along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) there was a detailed investigation, which was needed to be done. “We had to see various aspects, including the involvement of the neighbouring country which has inimical designs. Our efforts are always to ensure that there is no delay of any sort,” the officer said.

Defence Minister Singh, while intervening when Gandhi was speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in Lok Sabha, had said earlier this week that an Agniveer who lays down his life in the line of duty gets a compensation of Rs 1 crore.

Later, the additional directorate general of public information of the Army, in a statement titled ‘Clarification on emoluments to Agniveer Ajay Kumar’, emphasised that the emoluments due to a fallen hero are paid expeditiously to the next of kin of departed soldiers, including Agniveers.

“Of the total amount due, family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid Rs 98.39 lakhs. Ex-gratia and other benefits amounting to approximately Rs 67 lakhs, as applicable according to the provisions of the Agniveer Scheme, will be paid on Final Account Settlement shortly post due Police verification,” read the post.

Ajay’s family had told mediapersons that Rs 98 lakh that they have received were insurance payouts but the ex-gratia had not yet been received even six months Agniveer’s death.

Several retired senior Army officers expressed indignation at the need for police verification when a soldier has died in battle conditions.

According to officials, the total amount to be eventually paid to Aginveer Ajay included Rs 48 lakh as insurance from the Government of India; Rs 50 lakh as insurance from financial institutions under an MoU; and Rs 39,000 additional sum. These three have already been paid in case of Ajay.

It also includes ex gratia amount of Rs 44 lakh; Army welfare fund of Rs 8 lakh. Balance of pay till completion of his tenure stands at Rs 13 lakh (approximately) and Seva Nidhi Rs 2.3 lakh . A total of 67.3 lakh will be paid after due process, they said.

The Congress on Thursday said the government should bring a “white paper” on the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, so that the country gets to know the reality of the ground situation.