NEW DELHI: Major Mohit Sharma and Major D Sreeram Kumar, the two young army officers who engaged insurgents in bloody battles in Jammu and Kashmir and the north east, were awarded the nation’s highest peace time gallantry award, Ashok Chakra, on the eve of Independence Day.
Major Mohit, the hero of the Kupwara encounter, was the first officer to be killed this year in an anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Major D Sreeram Kumar, an alumnus of the Sainik School, Amravati Nagar in Tamil Nadu, was rewarded for making life miserable for terrorists in Manipur by killing 12 of them and catching 23 alive. He is currently serving the 39 Assam Rifles and is posted in Arunachal Pradesh.
Four army men were also awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest gallantry award, for their roles in various anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir. They are Major Amit Oscar Fernandes, Major Deepak Tewari, Naik Rishikesh Gurjar and Paratrooper Shabir Ahmad Malik (posthumous).
As some bold infiltration attempts took place in Jammu and Kashmir, army engaged terrorists on several locations along the line of control.
Major Mohit of the first battalion of the parachute regiment (Special Forces) took part in one such operation.