The President Shri Pranab Mukherjee will confer one Kriti Chakra and eight Shaurya Chakras, at an investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 02 May 2014.
Placed below are the citations in respect of the above Gallantry awards :
Nb Sub Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar
Nb Sub Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar of 5/5 Gorkha Rifles has been awarded “Kirti Chakra” for displaying exceptional bravery, raw courage and junior leadership beyond the call of duty, in successful counter infiltration operations along the Line of Control in J&K. Nb Sub Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar is a resident of Rupendehi District of Nepal.
On 31 August 2013, while guarding a crucial gap along the Line of Control in Kupwara District, Nb Sub Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar spotted movement of six heavily armed terrorists. Displaying remarkable presence of mind, he immediately side-stepped his position in rugged and boulders ridden terrain and closed in towards the terrorists, despite being under fire. The gallant soldier displaying nerves of steel, fired a long burst, killing one terrorist. Displaying raw courage, he pursued the second terrorist and injured him. While the injured terrorist was hiding behind a boulder, the Junior Commissioned Officer, unmindful of his personal safety, charged towards the terrorist and killed him.
SHAURYA CHAKRA
Major Mandeep Singh Ghumman
Major Mandeep Singh Ghumman of 1 Assam Rifles has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for act of extraordinary bravery, conspicuous courage and selfless devotion to duty of an exceptionally high order in anti terrorist operations in the North East. Major Mandeep Singh Ghumman is a resident of Pathankot, Punjab.
On 08 May 2013, based on specific intelligence, the officer led a small team to a village located on top of a hill. On reaching the suspected location, the column came under heavy fire from inside a house. The officer did not retaliate immediately to avoid civilian casualty. One terrorist who jumped out of the window firing indiscriminately was chased and eliminated from close range by the officer with disregard to personal safety. Another terrorist firing from the neighbouring house had pinned down the officer’s party. Sensing danger to own troops, the officer, making use of the undulating ground, rushed to the site. In a brazen act of valour, the officer charged at the second terrorist and eliminated him.
Captain Sandeep Bhartiya
Captain Sandeep Bhartiya of 17 JAT has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for displaying exemplary bravery, courage and leadership in the face of the enemy, showing utter disregard to personal safety in anti terrorist operations on the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K. Captain Sandeep Bhartiya is a resident of Munger, Bihar.
On 31 May 2013, Captain Sandeep observed movement of three to four terrorists in a dense area. He immediately took a party of four other ranks and occupied a suitable ambush point. At approximately 11:45 PM, as the terrorists drew closer to the fence, Captain Sandeep opened fire. The terrorists retaliated with heavy volume of fire and taking cover of the thickly wooded area, tried to extricate themselves. Throughout the night, Captain Sandeep ensured that the terrorists were fixed, by fire, at the same spot. Close to first light, the terrorist group made another attempt to escape, by firing heavily. The officer, instead of taking cover, changed position to fire at one militant and killed him. The operation continued till the next day and a total of three militants were killed.
Captain Mahabir Singh
Captain Mahabir Singh of 9 PARA (Special Forces) has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for displaying exemplary leadership, raw courage and conspicuous gallantry in face of grave personal danger and personally eliminating one hard core terrorist in anti terrorist operations in Samba (J&K). Captain Mahabir Singh is a resident of Gurdaspur, Punjab.
On 26 September 2013, Captain Mahabir was tasked to clear terrorists from unit lines during a Fidayeen attack. As the troops commenced clearing operations, they came under heavy small-arms and grenade fire from an adjacent building. Sensing grave threat to the entire operation and proximity of family quarters in close vicinity, Captain Mahabir, unmindful of his personal safety, charged into the building to engage the terrorists. Displaying sheer courage and exemplary field-craft, he manoeuvered to engage the terrorists at extreme close quarters. He moved from room to room, closing down their escape routes and shot dead one terrorist at point-blank range, thereby completely disorganising their will to resist. This singular action by the officer ensured safety of the entire team, prevented further collateral damage and minimised casualties during the entire operation.
Sepoy Lallawmzuala
Sepoy Lallawmzuala of 18 Rashtriya Rifles (RAJPUTANA RIFLES) has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for his conspicuous act of bravery beyond the call of duty in anti terrorist operations in J&K. Sepoy Lallawmzuala is a resident of Mamit, Mizoram.
On 23 July 2013, Sepoy Lallawmzuala was part of the inner cordon deployed at night during search operation based on intelligence about presence of a terrorist in a house. On commencement of search at approximately 6:30 AM, Sepoy Lallawmzuala was amongst the first to enter the house. His deliberate and methodical search revealed the presence of an armed terrorist in a well concealed hideout behind planks and loose earth in the house. Upon being discovered the terrorist opened indiscriminate fire, however, the soldier’s alacrity and outstanding use of field craft enabled him to manoeuvre to an advantageous position within three metres of the terrorist. His courage under fire, calm collected actions and outstanding fire control led to elimination of a top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad. His actions ensured that the balance of the search party received critical warning at the opportune time, resulting in effective covering fire and no casualty to own troops.
Major Swagat Kumar Das
Major Swagat Kumar Das of 9 SIKH LI has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for his conspicuous act of gallantry with utter disregard to personal safety in successful anti terrorist operations in Goalpara district (Assam). Major Swagat is a resident of Ganjam, Orissa.
On 5 August 2012, Major Swagat during an ambush observed suspicious movement of three terrorists with weapons from the village towards the jungle. On being challenged the suspected terrorists started firing indiscriminately towards the officer and his buddy. The officer, showing utter disregard to personal safety closed in with the fleeing terrorists and with well aimed fire eliminated two dreaded terrorists, later identified as self style commander and local self style corporal of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
Major Amarjeet Singh
Major Amarjeet Singh of 44 Assam Rifles has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for displaying raw courage, grit, dogged determination, decisiveness, espirit-de-corps and calm composure under terrorist fire, while eliminating two hardcore terrorists during successful anti terrorist operations in Ukhrul district (Manipur). Major Amarjeet is a resident of Siwan, Bihar.
Based on specific information Major Amarjeet tracked a group of terrorists through most arduous route with dense jungle and thick undergrowth involving steep climb and dangerous down slope. On locating them, with utter disregard to his personal safety, displaying indomitable courage and killer instinct, Major Amarjeet Singh along with his buddy further closed in and engaged the terrorists in a fierce fire fight. In this close encounter the officer killed two terrorists, one of them being commander-in-chief of a terrorist group.
Captain Rampreet Singh
Captain Rampreet Singh of 3 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for displaying exemplary courage in the face of incessant automatic fire with total disregard to his personal safety, which resulted in saving the precious lives of his team members and in elimination of two hard core terrorists in successful anti terrorist operations in Karbi Anglong District (Assam). Captain Rampreet is a resident of Bhind, Madhya Pradesh.
Captain Rampreet in a joint search operation was fired upon by automatic weapons. As the approach was constricted, entire party of Captain Rampreet Singh got pinned down by heavy volume of fire. Undeterred, in a daring and bold action, Captain Rampreet Singh moved towards the target, leaving behind the party under cover and showing exemplary battle craft and tactical manoeuvring, outflanked them and shot down two terrorists who were firing indiscriminately at them.
Naik Balwinder Singh, Sena Medal
Naik Balwinder Singh, SM of 22 Rashtriya Rifles (PUNJAB) has been awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for displaying indomitable courage, conspicuous gallantry and exhibiting outstanding leadership in the true traditions of Indian Army in successful anti terrorist operations in Sopore (J&K). Naik Balwinder is a resident of Ludhiana, Punjab.
On 18 December 2012, during an operation in Sopore district, J&K, Naik Balwinder Singh was faced with heavy firing by terrorists from inside a house. Naik Balwinder Singh, seeing the imminent danger to own party, with utter disregard to his personal safety crawled towards the target house to place an improvised explosive device to flush out the terrorists. As the house was collapsing, two terrorists rushed out of the house and came face to face with the individual. Naik Balwinder Singh, displayed exceptional courage, conspicuous bravery and remarkable tactical acumen engaged the terrorists and shot dead both the terrorists in a close combat. Both the terrorists were identified as foreign terrorists of LeT.