NEW DELHI: Havildar Rajesh Kumar of the Indian Amy, who laid down his life in a fierce gun battle with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir last year, has been awarded the country’s highest peace time gallantry award Ashok Chakra.
President Pratibha Patil will confer the honour on him along with Major Mohit Sharma (posthumous) and Major D Sreeram Kumar.
Kashmir’s brave girl Ruksana Kauser and her brother Aijaz Ahmed are among six winners of Kirti Chakra. The brother and sister had caught the nation’s attention after they killed a Lashkar-e- Toiba commander who had entered their village on the Line of Control in Rajouri district.
The four other recipients of Kirti Chakra include Major Suresh Suri of the Kumaon Regiment deputed to 13 Rashtriya Rifles. He gets the award posthumously. Major Pushpendra Singh of Rajputana Rifles posted with 28 Assam Rifles has also been awarded Kirti Chakra for his role in fighting insurgents in the Northeast.
The other two are policemen _ sub-inspector Bhopal Singh of Sahastra Seema Bal and constable Rel Deo Sangma of Meghalaya police.
Both of them sacrificed their lives on the job.
The President has also awarded 26 Shaurya Chakras which have gone mostly to Army men.
Havildar Rajesh Kumar, the winner of Ashoka Chakra, was leader of a ghatak (strike) team of his battalion which was on patrol in the dense forest in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on August 1, 2009. The team was attacked by terrorists.
In the initial encounter only, he managed to kill a terrorist and saved his colleagues from the hail of bullets. Despite taking a hit in the abdomen, he continued to fight and killed two more terrorists before succumbing to his injuries.
Major Mohit Sharma, who was selected for Ashok Chakra last year, had also died fighting terrorists in the forest of Kupwara district.
Sharma, an officer of the Para Regiment, was deputed to Rashtriya Rifles.
Major D Sreeram Kumar, an artillery officer, was honoured for his role in Operation Hifazat in Manipur.