Kirti Chakra (Posthumous)

Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh, Rajput Regiment/ 44 Rashtriya Rifles

In November 2017, a cordon and search operation (CASO) was launched in Algar village, South Kashmir after input about the presence of three terrorists. Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh was deployed in the inner cordon. Having cleared two houses Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh along with his buddy moved ahead to clear the adjacent cowshed. In a single-handed gallant action, he provided cover fire, thus giving an opportunity to his buddy Rifleman Aurangzeb to extricate himself not only out of cowshed but also kept the three terrorists engaged thus prevented their escape out of cowshed.

This also resulted in gaining of time to readjust the cordon by Captain Kaninder Paul Singh. In the ensuing firefight, he sustained bullet injuries on his chest and legs. Despite being grievously wounded and numerically overwhelmed by terrorists Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh continued dominating and engaging the terrorists, which led to neutralization of one terrorist and injuring of another.

Shaurya Chakra

Lieutenant Colonel Arjun Sharma, 6 Jat Regiment

Based on intelligence inputs about the presence of four foreign terrorists in a village in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir an operation was launched in March. During the search operations, Lieutenant Colonel Arjun Sharma saw four terrorists running towards a Nala.  

Sharma jumped into the Nala and chased the terrorists, and established contact. The terrorists opened heavy fire and lobbed grenades at the officer. The officer eliminated the first terrorist at eight meters. At approximately 1000 AM the terrorists tried to escape. However, the officer immediately engaged and eliminated the second terrorist.

Subsequently, four foreign terrorists were eliminated in operations and a major terror strike was averted.

Major Pawan Gautam, 44 Rashtriya Rifles (Corps of Engineers)

Maj Pawan Gautam had established a big intelligence network leading to the elimination of seven hardened terrorists.

On March 31, on receipt of input about the presence of terrorists in a village in Shopian, Maj Pawan Gautam launched an operation. He, along with his buddy Rifleman Mohd Maroof, tactically approached the target house but suddenly came under a heavy volume of terrorist fire from the house. Two terrorists came out firing indiscriminately trying to break the cordon and also lobbed hand grenades on them, thus injuring Rifleman Mohd Maroof. Maj Pawan Gautam neutralised one terrorist and rescued his injured buddy. Despite heavy firing, the officer crawled towards the hiding terrorist and neutralised him from very close range and caused injuries to other terrorists. Two terrorists were neutralised by the officer while five more got eliminated in the operations.

Major Aditya Kumar, 10 Garhwal Rifles

Maj Aditya Kumar, whose father has approached the Supreme Court against the Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to file an FIR against him for tackling a stone pelting crowd, has been awarded the Shaurya Chakra for killing two terrorists in an operation.

In November 2017, on receipt of information about the presence of four terrorists in Budgam, the officer galvanised his team into action. During the ensuing gunfight, the officer coordinated firing of all weapons on the house to create a breach thereby injuring the terrorists inside. He moved inside the house through a breach and brought down accurate fire on one of the foreign terrorists, neutralizing him from close quarters. The officer moved closer to another terrorist firing from a window of the house and neutralized him too.

Major Pawan Kumar, 34 Rashtriya Rifles (Jat Regiment)

Major Pawan Kumar killed a big terrorist commander in Kashmir who was trying to enter India to revive terrorism in the State.

The terrorist whilst infiltrating from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir by taking the cover of darkness and thick foliage, was firing accurately at own troops and could not be engaged due to the terrain. Major Pawan crawled towards the terrorist and lobbed a grenade at the terrorist forcing him to expose himself and in a fierce encounter shot him dead from a close quarter. His elimination not only saved lives of own troops but also prevented a revival of terrorism in the Valley.

Captain Kaninder Paul Singh, 44 Rashtriya Rifles (Rajput Regiment)

In October 2017, on receipt of input of presence of three terrorists in a village in South Kashmir, Captain Kaninder Paul Singh, Ghatak launched an operation to cordon the village. Singh came under heavy fire from the terrorists during the operation. 

In a swift action, he later eliminated one hardcore terrorist, who was later identified as a Category ‘A’.

Again in March, based on a specific input of presence of a large group of terrorists, a cordon was laid in a village of South Kashmir. The terrorists trapped in the cordon started an indiscriminate heavy fire and tried to break the cordon. Singh along with his buddy Sep Vijay Singh Gurjar advanced towards the terrorists and neutralised one terrorist. The officer then again crawled ahead and neutralised the second terrorist in close combat with his personal weapon and injured other terrorists, giving cover fire from the house. He killed three terrorists in six months.

Captain Varma Jayesh Rajesh, 44 Rashtriya Rifles (Rajput Regiment)

In September 2017, at around 1835 hours in a village of South Kashmir, a group of fleeing terrorist fired on Captain Varma, who was in the process of laying the cordon. The officer eliminated one of the two terrorists immediately and forced the third terrorist to hide in a cluster of houses.

The officer crawled closer to target to lob a grenade and killed the third terrorist. Despite a splinter injury on his legs, the officer refused to be evacuated from operations and left only when it got over. 

Naib Subedar Anil Kumar Dhayia, 1 Para (Special Forces)

Naib Subedar Anil Kumar Dhayia was second-in-command of the detachment deployed on the Line of Control tasked to intercept terrorist movement form their launch pad. Naib Subedar Anil Kumar Dhayia on 04 December 2017, crawled with his buddy to within 100 metres of a position where terrorists had established a hideout. After almost 36 hours of continued surveillance, he observed the movement of five terrorists along a track. Once in the killing area, he with precise action eliminated three terrorists.

Naib Subedar Vijay Kumar Yadav, 15 Maratha Light Infantry

Naib Subedar Vijay Kumar Yadav of 15 Maratha Light Infantry was part of Company Quick Reaction Team and Post Commander deployed on a forward post along the Line of Control.

In February, during firing by the enemy on a nearby post, Vijay quickly sprung into action and provided mutual support fire to the targeted post.  However, soon he discovered that the enemy was taking cover around own post. Immediately he led his team and surrounded the enemy Border Action Team. Vijay crawled ahead and killed one terrorist at close range.  He then pounced ahead and shot another terrorist trying to retrieve the dead terrorist which led the enemy to run away from there.

Havildar Kul Bahadur Thapa, 9 Para (Special Forces)

He was part of the troop (team) deployed along the Line of Control to prevent enemy attacks on own posts in Sunderbani Sector. In February, he saw the movement of our heavily armed terrorists and quickly established contact with them. Sensing the threat to own troops, Thapa eliminated two hostiles at close range as also grievously injured other two by throwing grenades. The enemy intercepts later revealed the killed terrorists as Pakistan army soldiers and injured ones as terrorists who were infiltrating for some big operation against India. 

Havaldar Jaweed Ahmed Bhat, 9 Para (Special Forces)

Bhat was part of the Troop (team) deployed in the Line of Control to intercept terrorist infiltration.

In January, movement of eleven heavily armed hostiles trying to infiltrate along the Line of Control was observed by own troops. The terrorists were firing at own troops and then Jaweed closed in with the terrorists while maintaining his calm and shot dead two hostiles and grievously injured another one at close quarters.  The enemy intercepts later confirmed the killed terrorists as Pakistan Army soldiers.

Gunner Ranjit Singh, 13 Rashtriya Rifles (Artillery)

He was part of inner cordon during a specific operation in Jammu and Kashmir. He along with his buddy was deployed to cover the most anticipated escape route using a bullet proof shield for safety. At that moment, six heavily armed terrorists ran out from the target house and opened heavy fire at their position and cracked their shield. Singh received a gunshot wound in his thigh but despite that, he engaged the terrorists killing one and wounding two others. The remaining terrorists were forced to moved towards other troops and were successfully killed by troops.

Rifleman Aurangzeb, 44 Rashtriya Rifles (Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry)

The nation showed that it stands with its soldiers as Rifleman Aurangzeb, who was killed by terrorists after abducting him while he was proceeding on leave, has been awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his role in eliminating three terrorists in November last year.

On 6 Nov 2017, a Cordon & Search Operation was launched at village Aglar on an input of presence of three terrorists.

Having cleared two houses, the search party came under heavy fire from a cowshed. Then the Rifleman crawled ahead and engaged the three terrorists in an intense firefight. He, in a single handed gallant action, retrieved his injured comrade and injured the three terrorists, thus localising them and preventing their escape which led to their subsequent neutralization. 

Rifleman Jaiprakash Oran (posthumous) 4, Assam Rifles

Rifleman Oran was part of a Road Operating Party on 15 November 2017 when they were ambushed by a group of up to seven terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons, Rifleman (Late) Jaiprakash Oraon was hit on the chest. Despite being grievously injured, his gallant action and raw courage resulted in the elimination of two senior cadres and inflicted injury to two more terrorists. The violent speed of counter ambush forced other terrorists to flee in panic.

Rifleman Rathva Lilesh Bhai, 4 Assam Rifles

He was deployed in Sajik Tampak, Manipur was part of Operation Chamol on 15 November 2017. As part of a three-member team, he was tasked to sanitize the area 300 meters of a road as part of Road Opening Party.  A group of 7 to 8 terrorists fired at them from close range. In the initial burst of Under Ground fire Havildar General Duty Gomi Pun sustained gunshot wound on his left arm and Rifleman (Late) Jaiprakash Oraon was hit on the chest.

In a rare act of gallantry, Rifleman Lilesh Bhai, who was the lead scout, took control of the Light Machine Gun from his inured partner and eliminated two senior terrorist cadres and inflicting injury to two more of them. The aggressive counter ambush forced the terrorist to flee from there.