Captain Satish Khera

Captain Satish Khera hailed from Dayalbagh in  Agra city of Uttar Pradesh. Son of Shri KC Kehra, Capt Satish Khera had two elder brothers and two elder sisters as his siblings. He did his schooling at Agra and was inclined to join the armed forces since his childhood. Eventually, he got selected to join the prestigious NDA after his schooling. He went to IMA Dehradun for further training and passed out as a 2nd Lieutennat. He was commissioned into the 2 Garhwal Rifles battalion of the Garhwal Rifles Regiment, an infantry regiment known for its intrepid soldiers and numerous battle honours.

Battle of OP Hill (Indo-Pak War): 06/ 07 Oct 1965

During the 1965 war with Pakistan, Capt Satish Khera’s unit 2 Garhwal Rifles was deployed Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district in Jammu region. At that time, 2 Garh Rif Battalion under the command of Lt Col Ujagar Singh was functioing under the operational control of 120 Infantry Brigade with Brigadier BS Ahluwalia as the 'Brigade Commander'. Located on the south-west of the road Mendhar-Balnoi, 'OP Hill' feature comprised a complex of hills which dominated the road and gave a clear view of the Indian defences.  In early August 1965, Pakistan had occupied the feature and gradually developed it into a battalion defended area, while the Indian troops were busy dealing with the infiltrators.  After the cease fire Pak troops continued to occupy the feature and resorted to shelling of 2 Dogra base at Balnoi and Picket 636. They also interfered with the movement of vehicle convoys and large bodies of troops by day on road Mendhar-Balnoi.  After parleys with the United Nations observers had failed to produce any result, GOC 25 Infantry Division in charge of the area decided to evict the enemy from OP Hill. 2 Garhwal Rifles, commanded by Lt Col Ujagar Singh, was asked to launch a battalion strength attack and capture Op Hill and other related features around it. Capt Satish Khera was functioning as company commander of "A" Coy of the battalion at that time.

Commanding Officer Lt Col Ujagar Singh led a team for reconnaissance of 'OP Hill' to find out the position and strenght of the enemy. despite lack of accurate information about the enemy strategy and their disposition, it was decided to launch an on the intervening night of October 6 and 7, by ‘A’ and ‘C’ companies of the battalion led by Capt Satish Khera and Maj SC Sethi respectively.  The ‘A’ company less a platoon under Capt Satish Khera reached the area of ‘OP Hill’ via Black Rocks and personally attacked the enemy post commander, severely wounding him. The leading platoon of the ‘A’ company succeeded in capturing a portion of OP Hill despite severe resistance and greater enemy numerical strength. However, due to lack of fire support from the mortar platoon and Mountain Battery, the ‘A’ and ‘C’ companies failed to maintain the stronghold on the captured positions. The ‘B’ and ‘D’ companies were ordered to reinforce the ‘A’ and ‘C’ companies, respectively. But by that time, it was too late and the enemy brought heavy MMG, mortar and artillery fire on the troops, who were in the open. Capt Satish Khera along with his gallant JCOs and troops fought till the last breath and refused to be evacuated till the end. However, on October 7, the brigade headquarters called off the attack and the battalion was finally ordered to withdraw in order to reconsolidate itself. 

During this operation, 2 Garhwal Rifles battalion lost two officers, including Captain Satish Khera and Lieutenant Bhim Sain from 'C' company, one JCO, Subedar Govind Singh Gariya, and nineteen other ranks, while four officers, three JCOs, and sixty-eight men were wounded. The lessons learned from this attack were taken note of and duly applied for the next attack on OP Hill, which was launched on the intervening night of November 2 and 3 with brigade strength after nearly a month of the first attack by the 2 Garhwal Rifles troops. A brigade attack was launched on 02/03 Nov 1965 by 2 Dogra, 5 Sikh Light Infantry, and 7 Sikh battalions attacking in three phases. After two days of heavy fighting, OP Hill was finally captured. Thus, the supreme sacrifice of Captain Satish Khera and his comrades eventually led to the achievement of the final objective. Captain Satish Khera was a valiant soldier and gritty officer, who led from the front and laid down his life in the line of duty.

Capt Satish Khera is survived by his elder brother Shri Dharamjit Khera and an elder sister Shri Soami Pyari.