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Rediff.com  » News » I-Day gallantry awards: Abhinandan gets Vir Chakra

I-Day gallantry awards: Abhinandan gets Vir Chakra

Source: PTI
Last updated on: August 15, 2019 00:02 IST
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The IAF received a total of 13 awards including five Yudh Seva Medals and seven Vayu Sena Medal.
The Army also got eight Shaurya Chakras and 98 Sena Medals. The Navy got one Shaurya Chakra.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed an enemy jet during an aerial combat with Pakistan in February and was held captive for three days, has been conferred the Vir Chakra, India's third-highest war time gallantry medal.

At least five Indian Air Force pilots who were part of the mission to strike a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp inside Pakistan, and Minty Agarwal, a lady officer who played a key role as flight controller during the Pakistani retaliation, were also among the military awardees.

The defence ministry announced the military awards on the eve of Independence Day celebrations.

 

From the Army, Sapper Prakash Jadhav of the Rashtriya Rifles will be posthumously awarded Kirti Chakra, the second highest peacetime gallantry award.

Agarwal, who played a key role as a ground staff during the dog-fight between India and Pakistan on February 27, has been awarded Yudh Seva medal.

The IAF received a total of 13 awards including five Yudh Seva Medals and seven Vayu Sena Medal.

The Vayu Sena medal award winners are Group Captain Saumitra Tamaskar, Wing Commander Pranav Raj, Wing Commander Amit Ranjan, Sq Ldr Rahul Basoya, Sq Ldr Pankaj Arvind Bhujade , Sq Ldr B Karthik Narayan Reddy, Sq Ldr Shashank Singh.

Besides Agarwal, the Yudh Sena medal winners are Air Commodore Sunil Kashinath Vidhate, Group Captain Yeshpal Singh Negi, Group Captain Hemant Kumar, Group Captain Hansel Joseph Seqeira.

The Army also got eight Shaurya Chakra awards and 98 Sena medals. The Navy got one Shaurya Chakra award.

Indian Navy sailor Amit Singh Rana, who was deployed for Operation Rakshak in Jammu and Kashmir and played a vital role in elimination of several terrorists, has been chosen for Shaurya Chakra, officials said on Wednesday.

Eight foreign terrorist were killed in two back-to-back operations -- Operation Danna and Operation Shok Baba. In these operations, the sailor performed exceptionally, the Navy said in a statement.

In Operation Danna, he, as a buddy of Lt Cdr Mahesh Kumar, shot dead one terrorist at extreme close quarters while giving cover to the officer, who shot dead another terrorist, it said.

On September 20-21 , Rana was involved in Operation Shok Baba along with the 14 Rashtriya Rifles in a cordon and search operation.

There were five to six terrorists entrapped at Shok Baba village and despite firing of heavy calibre weapons and grenades, the terrorists remained protected in a cow shed, according to the statement.

It was at this juncture, Rana and a team volunteered to approach the cow shed with a heavy improvised explosive device (IED), it said.

There was a heavy firing on the team, but Rana quickly manoeuvred in and placed the IED at the cow shed, the statement said.

"Rana was fired upon but came out unscathed. He was backed by close cover firing by his buddy. The cow shed was blown up by the IED and three terrorists inside it were eliminated," it said.

Five other persons have been chosen for gallantry medals -- Nao Sena Medal, the Navy said.

Naveen Thapa, as Captain of a Sea King 42 C aircraft, on January 25 displayed exceptional courage and saved the lives of five Indian Coast Guard officers and one Indian Army jawan in extremely rough sea conditions at night, the statement said.

The six people were stranded at sea after their Seabird class sailing boat capsized.

Lt Cdr Ruchir Rakesh Khajuria was officer-in-charge of the team deployed in Jammu and Kashmir for Operation Rakshak from May 24 to November 29, 2018, it said.

In seven months under his leadership, eight hardcore terrorists were eliminated without any casualty in his team.

Three more sailors Takhellambam Rakhesh Singh, Shaminder Singh and Shri Niwash have also been chosen for the gallantry award announced on the eve of the 73rd Independence Day.

"We are very happy that Wing Commander Varthaman has been conferred with Vir Chakra," said an IAF official.

Wg Cdr Varthaman, 36, was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat.

Before his jet was hit, he downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan. Wg Cdr Varthaman was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

Wg Cdr Varthaman had suffered injuries while ejecting from his MiG-21 Bison during the aerial combat.

A high-level medical board of the Indian Air Force has already cleared Wg Cdr Varthaman to return to the fighter cockpit.

Days after he returned from Pakistan, Wg Cdr Varthaman conveyed to the IAF brass his wish to resume flying at the earliest.

IAF fighter jets bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot on February 26, nearly two weeks after the Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistan retaliated on February 27 by attempting to target Indian military installations.

LIST OF GALLANTRY AWARDS

President Ram Nath Kovind, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, has approved 132 awards to armed forces personnel and members of the paramilitary forces.

The awards include two Kirti Chakras, one Vir Chakra and 14 Shaurya Chakras.

The President also approved eight Bar to Sena Medals (gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), five Nao Sena Medals (gallantry), seven Vayu Sena Medals (gallantry) and five Yudh Seva Medals.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also approved four Mention-in-Despatches to army personnel for their signification contributions in different military operations which include one posthumous for 'Operation Anantnag Town'.

KIRTI CHAKRA

SAPPER PRAKASH JADHAV (ARMY)
HARSHPAL SINGH, DY COMMANDANT, Central Reserve Police Force (Ministry of Home Affairs)

VIR CHAKRA
WING COMMANDER VARTHAMAN ABHINANDAN (Air Force)

SHAURYA CHAKRA

LT COL AJAY SINGH KUSHWAH (Army)

MAJOR VIBHUTI SHANKAR DHOUNDIYAL (Posthumous-Army)

CAPTAIN MAHESHKUMAR BHURE (Army)

LANCE NAIK SANDEEP SINGH (Posthumous-Army)

SEPOY BRAJESH KUMAR (Posthumous-Army)

SEPOY HARI SINGH (POSTHOMOUS-ARMY)

RIFLEMAN AJVEER SINGH CHAUHAN (Army)

RIFLEMAN SHIVE KUMAR (Posthumous-Army)

AMIT SINGH RANA (Navy)

SABLE DNYANESHWAR SHRIRAM (CRPF)

ZAKER HUSSAIN, CONSTABLE (CRPF)

ASHIQ HUSSAIN MALIK, SPECIAL POLICE OFFICIAL (Posthumous)

SUBASH CHANDER, HEAD CONSTABLE, (J&K)

IMRAN HUSSAIN TAK, SUB INSPECTOR (Posthumous)

BAR TO SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)

COL ASHUTOSH SHARMA
MAJOR K NAVEEN REDDY
MAJOR SAGAR PRAKASH PARDESHI
MAJOR TASOU PRAO
MAJOR MD SAHWAJ ALAM
MAJOR KAUSTUBH PRAKASHKUMAR RANE (Posthumous)
MAJOR MANISH KUMAR SINGH
SEPOY SUNIL KUMAR, SENA MEDAL

SENA MEDAL(GALLANTRY)

LT COL RAJESH CHOUDHARY
LT COL BHAGWAN SINGH BISHT
LT COL. PUNYABACHI MOHANTY
LT COL MOHAMMAD RAZA ISRAIL
LT COL AMRENDRA PRASAD DWIVEDI
LT THAIBA SIMON
MAJOR SANDEEP WASHISHT
MAJOR JASWINDER SINGH
MAJOR VIKAS KATOCH
MAJOR REVINDER BHAKHER
MAJOR UDAYAN THAKUR
MAJOR VIJESH KUMAR
MAJOR SACHIN KUMAR AGARWAL
MAJOR CHITRESH BISHT (Posthumous)
MAJOR K H SHEM
MAJOR ASHISH KUMAR
MAJOR HAPPY CHARAK
MAJOR YOGESH PANDEY
MAJOR LAXMAN SINGH
MAJOR PATHARKAR ANAND SHARAD
MAJOR JAVALKAR VAIBHAV PRAMOD
MAJOR SOHAM BHATTACHARJEE
MAJOR SHAKTI SINGH
MAJOR INDER PREET SINGH
CAPTAIN SHIV KUMAR SHARMA
CAPTAIN KUNAL KUMAR
CAPTAIN PRATEEK RANJANGAONKAR
CAPTAIN SAURABH PATNI
CAPTAIN ASHISH GEDION PAUDEL
SUBEDAR TRILOK SINGH
NAIB SUBEDAR TARA CHAND
NAIB SUBEDAR RAVINDER SINGH
NAIB SUBEDAR JAI DEV
BATTERY HAVILDAR MAJOR HANS RAJ
HAVILDAR SANDEEP MALIK
HAVILDAR BALINDER SINGH
HAVILDAR BALJEET
HAVILDAR BHUPENDRA SINGH
HAVILDAR AJAY KUMAR RANA
HAVILDAR SHEO RAM (Posthumous)
HAVILDAR RAKESH KUMAR
HAVILDAR JAVID AHMAD CHOPAN
LANCE HAVILDAR VIJAY KUMAR (Posthumous)
LANCE HAVILDAR SANDEEP KUMAR
NAIK ASHWANI KUMAR
NAIK JANKAR SINGH
NAIK SUNNY THAKUR
NAIK RAMESH KUMAR
NAIK NARENDRA KUMAR
NAIK SANTOSH SINGH
LANCE NAIK SOMBIR
LANCE NAIK JAGTAR SINGH
LANCE NAIK SURENDRA SINGH
LANCE NAIK ANUJ KUMAR
SEPOY KULWINDER SINGH
SEPOY JAGMOHAN SINGH
SEPOY SAMARESH DEY
SEPOY SUHAIL SINGH SAINI
SEPOY S VIGI BHASKAR
GRENADIER TAWSEEF YOUSUF
GRENADIER AJAY KUMAR (Posthumous)
SEPOY PENTA NITHIN PAUL
SEPOY SUNIL
SEPOY RINKU
SEPOY SUSHIL SINGH KALAKOTI
SEPOY RAJVEER SINGH YADAV
SEPOY PANKAJ BORO
SEPOY RAHUL DAS
SEPOY GULSHAN SINGH
SEPOY HAPPY SINGH (Posthumous)
SEPOY YOGENDRA KUMAR
RIFLEMAN RAMESH SINGH DHAMI
RIFLEMAN RUPEN PRADHAN
RIFLEMAN SURINDER KUMAR
RIFLEMAN PRADEEP KUMAR
RIFLEMAN MANDEEP SINGH RAWAT (Posthumous)
RIFLEMAN PREETAM SINGH
RIFLEMAN RAYEES AH LONE
RIFLEMAN NINGTHOUJAM SUBHACHANDRA SINGH (Posthumous)
GRENADIER KARAM CHAND
PARATROOPER VIKRAM SINGH MEHTA
PARATROOPER RAJENDRA SINGH
PARATROOPER NASEEB KUMAR
PARATROOPER GOPAL SINGH
PARATROOPER TARUNG SITANG
SOWAR KISHAN SINGH (Posthumous)
SIGNALMAN MANVENDRA SINGH
SAPPER P MADHU
SAPPER P BABU
SAPPER RAHUL CHAVAN

NAO SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)

CAPTAIN NAVEEN THAPA
LT CDR RUCHIR RAKESH KHAJURIA
SHRI NIWASH, SEA I (UW)
SHAMINDER SINGH
TAKHELLAMBAM RAKHESH SINGH

VAYU SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)

GROUP CAPTAIN SAUMITRA TAMASKAR
WING COMMANDER PRANAV RAJ
WING COMMANDER AMIT RANJAN
SQUADRON LEADER RAHUL BASOYA
SQUADRON LEADER PANKAJ ARVIND BHUJADE
SQUADRON LEADER B KARTHIK NARAYAN REDDY
SQUADRON LEADER SHASHANK SINGH

YUDH SEVA MEDAL

AIR COMMODORE SUNIL KASHINATH VIDHATE
GROUP CAPTAIN YESHPAL SINGH NEGI
GROUP CAPTAIN HEMANT KUMAR
GROUP CAPTAIN HANSEL JOSEPH SEQUEIRA
SQUADRON LEADER MINTY AGGARWAL

President's Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service)

IG Thekkumpurath Prabhakaran Sadanandan

TATRAKSHAK MEDAL (GALLANTRY)

DIG Yoginder Dhaka
Comdt Anurup Singh
Dy Comdt Utkersh Sharma
Satish, P
Trinatha Behera

Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service)

IG Maneesh Vishal Pathak
DIG Neeraj Tiwari

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