Grenadier Vikash Kumar

Grenadier Vikash Kumar hailed from Pili Mandori village in Fatehabad district of Haryana and was born in the year 1997. Son of Shri Indraj and Smt Lajwanti, he had a brother Atmaram as his sibling. He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces since his childhood and eventually joined the Indian Army after completing his school education in the year 2018. He was recruited into 25 Grenadiers of the Grenadiers Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers with a rich history of various battle honours. He was a fitness enthusiast and excelled in the field of sports, especially in volleyball. He participated in various volleyball tournaments during his student days and while serving in the Army too and won many laurels. After serving for sometime, he got married to Ms Krishna Devi in the year 2020 and the couple was blessed with a son.

Army Convoy Accident (Sikkim): 23 Dec 2022

During Dec 2022, Gdr Vikash's unit 25 Grenadiers battalion, was deployed in Sikkim near the Indo-China border. The AOR(Area of Responsibility) of the unit spanned over remote rugged mountainous terrain with extreme weather conditions, especially in the winter season. The troops were deployed on various forward posts and often undertook patrol to monitor the area in between the manned posts. Also, heavy snowfall often blocked the roads and hampered the movement of troops which necessitated frequent clearance operations. The mountainous roads in the AOR of the unit were narrow and had steep gradients posing serious challenges to the quick movement of troops. Gdr Vikash and his comrades were tasked for an operation on 23 Dec 2022 and had to move by road to the operational area.

As planned the three-vehicle convoy set off in the morning of 23 Dec from Chatten to reach Thangu. Besides 25 Grenadiers, the soldiers traveling in the convoy belonged to various other units which included, 285 Med Regt, 221 Fd Regt, 26 Mech Inf, 8 Raj Rif, 113 Engr Regt and 1871 Fd Regt.  As the vehicle carrying Gdr Vikash and 19 other soldiers was on its way, it skidded down a steep slope at Zema in North Sikkim while negotiating a sharp turn.  As the vehicle fell into a deep gorge, it got mangled beyond recognition due to the severe impact. As a result, all 20 soldiers got severely injured. The Army quickly launched the rescue operation and the injured soldiers were transferred to a field hospital,  However, Gdr Vikash and fifteen other soldiers succumbed to their injuries and were martyred.

Besides Gdr Vikash, the other martyred soldiers included Nb Sub Omkar Singh (285 Med Regt), Nb Sub Chandan Kumar Mishra (285 Med Regt),  L/Hav Gopinath Makur (26 Mech Inf), Hav Charan Singh (26 Mech Inf), Sep Sukha Ram (26 Mech Inf), Nk Ravinder Thapa (26 Mech Inf), Nk Vaisakh S (221 Fd Regt), Nk Pramod Kumar Singh(221 Fd Regt), Nk Shyam Singh Yadav (25 Grenadiers), L/Nk Bhupendra Singh (25 Grenadiers), Nk Lokesh Kumar (25 Grenadiers), Sub Guman Singh (8 Raj Rif), L/Hav Arvind Kumar (8 Raj Rif), L/Nk Somvir Singh (113 Engr Regt), and L/Nk Manoj Kumar(1871 Fd Regt). Gdr Vikash was a valiant and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 25 years in the line of his duty.

Gdr Vikash Kumar is survived by his father Shri Indraj, mother Smt Lajwanti, wife Smt Krishna Devi, son and brother Shri Atmaram.