13 days after celebrating his 31st birthday, fearless Major Mukund Vardarajan nicknamed ‘Maddy’ of Tambram, Tamil Nadu was at a battle front at Karewa Malino village, in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, some 55 kms from summer capital Srinagar.
He was leading an operation to flush out three Hizbul Mujahideen militants, who were hiding in a house there. Sepoy Vikram Singh was also part of the team, which had pinned the militant positions and were taking them head on.
According to security officials, who were present at the scene of encounter on April 25, Major Mukund showed immense care for the civilians present in the operation area and ensured that all of them are evacuated and escorted to safety.
“Risking their personal safety, the officer and his team evacuated civilian from the houses including from the one from where militants were firing on them. in which the terrorists were hiding including the nearby houses,” they said.
They said after taking the civilians out from danger zone, Major Mukund, Vikram and their team engaged the militants in a fierce gunfight.
“Two militants were killed in the initial firefight after which Mukund and his team ceased fire to avoid further damage to the house where militants were holed up”.
“During the brief lull during which there was no fire from house, Major Mukund and Vikram volunteered to take on and eliminate the third militant, whose effective fire from automatic weapon was posing a grave threat to the soldiers, who had taken positions around the place where the militant was holed up,” the officials said.
They said Major Mukund and Vikram crawled towards the target and during this maneuver; the militant fired a burst from point blank range towards them, causing grievous injuries to both of them.
“Notwithstanding the effective hostile fire, the two soldiers kept firing, leading to fatal injuries to the militant.
During the process, Vikram breathed his last and Mukund received more bullets. Despite, being critically injured Mukund bravely fought till the militant was killed.”
The officials said he was immediately evacuated to army hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.
Major Mukund had celebrated his 31st birthday on April 12. He was born on April 12, 1983 and had done his B. Com from Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya at Selaiyur and diploma in Journalism from Madras Christian College, Tambaram.
However, he had a passion for the forces from childhood and was commissioned into 22 Rajput Regiment on March 18, 2006 from Officers Training Academy, Chennai.
Nicknamed ‘Maddy’, he had a fine sense of humour easily endearing himself to his fellow officers and troops. He was a keen professional soldier and had excelled in training.
He had been posted with 44 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, army’s counter insurgency force in Shopian, Kashmir in December 2012 and according to his colleagues, he was an outstanding soldier and exceptional human being.
“He was very fearless, bold, extremely confident and a very cheerful person,” they said.
Major Mukund had also served the Infantry School in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, and in Lebanon on a United Nations Mission.
He is survived by his wife Mrs Indhu Mukund and 3 year old daughter Arshea.
Sepoy Vikram Singh, who was also killed in Shopian encounter on April 25, belonged to Rewari, Haryana which has a fine tradition of soldiering.
He was born on March 15, 1983 and enrolled into the Rajput Regiment of Army on October 7, 2002.
Like Major Mukund, Vikram was posted with 44 Rashtria Rifles in Kashmir since December 2012. He had been with 44 Rashtria Rifles since December 19, 2012.
According to his colleagues and superiors, Vikram was a soft - spoken gentle giant.
“Vikram was the epitome of soldiering excellence. He participated in many anti-militancy operations and always volunteered for risky tasks,” they said.
Vikram is survived by his wife, Mrs Sushila and son, Master Abhishek Kumar.
According to army officials, Vikram participated in Operation Pinzur in Shopian district on February 13, 2014 in which two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed. “He actively participated in that operation and was part of the assault team that killed the militants”.
A top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in the gunfight. He was one of the wanted militants and security forces were hunting for him from a long time.
They said he also participated in another anti-militancy operation in Shopian on June 1, 2013 in which two militants were killed. The encounter between militants and security forces lasted for nearly 26 hours.
While paying tributes to Major Mukund and Vikram, army said they laid down supreme sacrifice in pursuit of National security and upholding the honour and integrity of the nation. “They laid down their lives fighting for the country in best traditions of the Army and Rajput rgiment. Their memory will be cherished forever”.
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