Gallantry awards and other honors declared; 6 Kirti Chakra and 15 Shaurya Chakras

Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair to receive Param Vishisht Seva Medal

NEW DELHI: The country’s second highest gallantry medal during peacetime, Kirti Chakra, has been awarded to four policemen posthumously and two Army soldiers, while Shaurya Chakras have been conferred on 15 military and other security personnel. Three of the Kirti Chakra awardees are sub-inspector Deepak Bhardwaj, head constables Sodhi Narayan and Shrawan Kashyap, among the 22 security personnel killed in the major ambush by Maoists at Bijapur in Chhattisgarh in April 2021. The fourth is senior constable Rohit Kumar (J&K Police).

In the Army, the medals have been awarded to Major Shubhang (Dogra) and Naik Jitendra Singh (Rajput) for showing conspicuous bravery in killing terrorists despite being injured in counter-terror operations in J&K last year. Two of the Shaurya Chakra awardees, Naik Jasbir Singh (JAK Rifles) and constable Mudasir Ahmad Sheikh (J&K Police), have got it posthumously. The ones from the Army are Major Aditya Bhadauria (Kumaon), Captain Arun Kumar (Kumaon), Captain Yudhvir Singh (Mech Infantry), Captain Rakesh T R (9 Para-SF) and Lance-Naik Vikas Choudhary (JAK Rifles).

Major Shubhang led a team of 62 Rashtriya Rifles during the encounter with heavily-armed terrorists at a village in Budgam in April 2022. “Despite sustaining a gunshot wound on the left shoulder, he exhibited unparalleled valor and neutralized a hard-core terrorist in an intense gunfight,” an officer said. He then crawled to engage a second terrorist, who was firing on injured soldiers and forced him to run to a nearby house where he was subsequently killed. Naik Jitendra Singh exhibited exceptional valor as the lead guide in three operations, eliminating seven terrorists in J&K since December 2021.

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal has been awarded for the second time to Major General K Narayanan. He received it previously in 2021. 16th racing car core commander Lieutenant General PN Ananthanarayanan and Infantry Lieutenant General Velayudan Srihari have also been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.