Palampur prepares for anti-climax

Captain Batra, known to his company as Sher Shah’, scaled the mountains on the night of June 19-20, to liberate Point 5140 from enemy control. The infiltrators taunted him: “Sher Shah, upar aa gaye ho, ab wapas nahin ja sako ge (Sher Shah, you have come up, but won’t go back alive),” but Batra retorted, “Ek ghante mein dekhte hain upar kaun rahege (In an hour you’ll know who stays atop)”.

Batra and his company had occupied the peak by 3.35 am on June 20. They sent a message to the base saying, “Yeh dil mange more,” which, by then, had become their war cry.

None of the Indian soldiers had sustained so much as a bruise in the fiercest battle fought at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The occupationof two points, including 5140, paved the way for the recapture of Points 5100, 470, Junction and Three Pimples, leading to the capture of Tiger Hills.

Subsequent to the capture of these points, Batra was promoted as captain on the battlefield itself, and army authorities recommended him for the Mahavir Chakra.

Capt Batra volunteered for another assault on Point 4875 where he gave a tough time to intruders and killed more than eight enemy soldiers before falling prey to the shelling while he was about to enter his bunker at 2.30 am on July 8.

Born on September 9, 1974, Capt Batra was commissioned as army officer in June 1997, and initially posted with the 13 J&K rifles in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir. Batra had called up his parents to tell them about his contribution to Operation Vijay. His father, principal of the Government Senior Secondary School at Paraur near here, recalled, “Vikram appeared a little tired on television a day before he made the supreme sacrifice. Before we could celebrate thereturn of the hero, we received the news of his laying down his life. But I share the pride of being the father of a valiant son. His exemplary sense of duty should be emulated by youngsters.”

Top