Major who died in Baramulla gunfight gets Ashok Chakra

A brave young officer who sacrificed his life trying to save a colleague during a fierce encounter...

A brave young officer who sacrificed his life trying to save a colleague during a fierce encounter in Kashmir has been posthumously awarded the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra. Major Dinesh Raghu Raman succumbed to injuries after killing two militants in a gun battle at a village in Baramulla district last October, just days before he was to meet his wife in Delhi for the birth of their first child.

The encounter, referred to as the heaviest gun battle in Kashmir last year, in which nine terrorists were killed, started off after an Army patrol came under fire from militants holed up in the Ringwari hamlet. Raman, who was leading his troops to the spot, heard shouts of a fellow officer who had been seriously injured in the initial firing. His gallant action after this, reconstructed through field reports and statements by soldiers, earned him the Ashok Chakra.

“Displaying camaraderie and esprit-de-corps of the highest order he crawled towards him under heavy hostile fire. He extricated him and two other injured soldiers to safety. He then took on two terrorist who had caused heavy casualties to the troops and in a fierce close quarter battle shot both of them dead,” a Defence Ministry statement said.

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However, terrorists holed up in another house noticed the movements and fired on Major Raman. “In the ensuing firefight, Major Raman was seriously injured. Undeterred, he continued leading and motivating his troops and pinned down the terrorists till he fell unconscious. He later succumbed to injuries,” the statement said.

The award will be conferred to him by the President at the Republic Day celebrations on Saturday. Three others — Captain Harshan R of 2 Parachute Regiment, Special Forces (Posthumous), Naib Subedar Chunni Lal of 8 J&K Light Infantry (Posthumous) and Colonel Vasanth Venugopal of 9 Maratha Light Infantry (Posthumous), who were awarded Ashoka Chakra on the eve of Independence Day last year, will also be honoured.

Amongst various awards for Army personnel, four Kirti Chakras have also been announced. The second highest peacetime gallantry award has been conferred on Major Shatrujeet Kotwal of 3 JAT, Major Suhash Chand Punia of 21 Para (Special Forces), Major Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay of 53 Medium Regiment (Artillery) (Posthumous) and Sepoy Suresh of 16 JAT (Posthumous).

The President has approved awards of 425 gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others. This includes one Ashoka Chakra, four Kirti Chakras, 22 Shaurya Chakras, two Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 107 Sena Medals (Gallantry), two Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), three Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), 30 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, three Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 52 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, one Yudh Seva Medal, three Bar to Vishisht Seva Medals, 127 Vishisht Seva Medals, four Bar to Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 38 Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 10 Nao Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty) and 16 Vayu Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty).