Thirteen days after celebrating his 31st birthday, fearless Major Mukund Vardarajan led an operation to flush out Hizbul Mujahideen militants, who were hiding in Karewa Malino village, in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, some 55 kms from here.
Sepoy Vikram Singh was also part of the team, which had pinned the militants’ positions and were taking them head on.
According to security officials, who were present at the scene of the encounter on April 25, Major Mukund of Tambram, Tamil Nadu, showed immense care for the civilians present in the area and ensured that all of them were evacuated and escorted to safety.
“Risking their personal safety, the officer and his team evacuated civilians from their houses, including the one from which the militants were firing,” they said.They said after taking the civilians out from the danger zone, Major Mukund, Vikram and their team engaged in a fierce gunfight with the militants. “Two militants were killed in the initial firefight, after which Mukund and his team stopped firing to avoid further damage to the house where the militants were hiding”.
“During the brief lull in which there was no firing, Major Mukund and Vikram volunteered to take on and eliminate the third militant, whose shots, fired from an automatic weapon, were posing grave threats to the soldiers,” the officials said.
Major Mukund and Vikram crawled towards the target and during this manoeuvre; the militant fired a burst from point-blank range, causing grievous injuries to the two. “Notwithstanding the shots, the two soldiers kept firing, causing fatal injuries to the militant. During the encounter, Vikram breathed his last. Despite, being critically injured, Mukund bravely fought till the militant was killed.”
The officials said he was immediately evacuated to an Army hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Major Mukund had been in awe of the Forces since childhood and was commissioned into the 22 Rajput Regiment on March 18, 2006, from the Officers Training Academy in Chennai.