A total of 140 gallantry awards for the armed forces was announced today on the eve of the countrys 60th year of independence that include three Ashok Chakras, six Kirti Chakras and 20 Shaurya Chakras.
New Delhi, Aug 14 : A total of 140 gallantry awards for the armed forces was announced today on the eve of the country's 60th year of independence that include three Ashok Chakras, six Kirti Chakras and 20 Shaurya Chakras.
The Ashok Chakra, which is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, has been awarded posthumously to Colonel Vasanth Venugopal, Captain Harshan and Naib Subedar Chunni Lal.
The radio operator who accompanied Col Vasant, Lance Naik Bachhav Shashikant Ganpat , has been also awarded the Shaurya Chakra. Both laid down their lives in a bid to capture infiltrating terrorists from across LoC in Uri Sector on July 31, 2007.
The martyred Colonel killed three terrorists himself before he succumbed to his injuries.
Captain Harshan of 2 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) killed two hardcore terrorists at very close range in Lolab in Kashmir on March 20, 2007. However, he succumbed to his wounds that he received.
Naib Subedar Chunni Lal of 8 J and K Light Infantry killed three terrorists on June 24, 2007 before laying down his life in countering an infiltration bid by terrorists in Kupwara sector of the State.
He was decorated twice for bravery on earlier occasions. As a young soldier he had taken part in the capture of Bana Top in Siachen Glacier in 1987 for which he was awarded a Sena Medal. He was also awarded Vir Chakra for beating back an attempted intrusion in Poonch sector in 1999.
Among the six Kirti Chakra- peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra -awardees are Captain Abhinav Handa of 9 Maratha Light Infantry, Lt. Pankaj Kumar of 7/11 Gorkha Rifles, Naik Radhakrishan of 10 Madras regiment, Dayanand Pandey, Mohammed Shan Ahmed and Tarun Kumar Dutta.
Captain Abhinav Handa led a column of Ghatak platoon on July 30, 2007 and took charge of the operations in which Colonel Vasanth was martyred.
His team killed four more terrorists, including one by him.
Lt. Pankaj Kumar eliminated eight hardcore terrorists on April 10, 2007 in a seek and destroy mission which lasted for five days in the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh. Two of these terrorists were killed after a chase for over 1.5 kms in a forest.
Naik Radhakrishan, who has been posthumously awarded, commanded a search team in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on October 18, 2006. In a close firefight he killed three terrorists unmindful of the injury he sustained in the operation. He later succumbed to his injuries.
Dayanand Pandey of Jahangirganj village in Ambedkar Nagar District (Uttar Pradesh) laid down his life at Baskhari Sub Post Office in Faizabad on August 1, 2005 while resisting three robbers who intended to loot Government money.
Mohammed Shan Ahmed was posted as Cash Overseer at a post office in Jhansi and was killed while resisting looting of cash by armed miscreants.
Tarun Kumar Dutta was made a target by the drug mafia and was killed on September 12, 2006, since was actively involved in the checking of smuggling of drugs in Shillong region.
Amongst the 20 personnel awarded Shaurya Chakra, 19 of them belong to the Army and one from the Air Force. Of these eight are officers and one is a Junior Commissioned Officer. In this category nine personnel have been awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously. Nine of the recipients of the Shaurya Chakra have been awarded while serving in Rashtriya Rifles. The junior-most officer to be awarded Shaurya Chakra is Lt. K D S Rathore of 42 Field Regiment. The only Junior Commissioned Officer in this category is Subedar Manohar P of 10 MADRAS Regiment.
ANI