Ghaziabad, Feb 24 (IANS) Captain Davendra Singh, killed in a gun battle with separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, had given up a cushy private job to join the army, the slain man's grieving father said Wednesday.

Devendra Singh had completed his engineering course, was on the verge of completing his MBA and had got a private job through campus placement when he decided that he wanted to be a soldier.

On Tuesday, the captain was killed while fighting militants in Sopore.

'When he told me he had been selected in the army after he had got an appointment letter from a reputed company, we backed his decision to join the army,' said Bhupendra Singh.

A former general manager of Dabur India Ltd, Bhupendra Singh said at the family residence in Indirapuram that his son was passionate about joining the army.

'The difference in pay (between what the company and what the army offered) was more than double. But the family had to bow to his will and passion,' Bhupendra Singh added.

In December 2007, the young man was selected in the Signals regiment. He was later selected for a commando course.

He visited his family when his grandmother died last year. At that time he was posted in Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir.

'On Saturday he talked to me and said he would come for Holi. It was our last telephonic discussion,' the father said.

'We are proud on him. It was his wish. It was his childhood passion. The entire family agreed with him in all his decisions during his 26-year-old life,' he added.