Hav Gokaran Singh

Havildar Gokaran Singh Chuphal hailed from Napper village in Munshiyari tehsil of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand and was born in the year 1979. Son of an Army veteran Ganga Singh and Smt Yashoda Devi, he had a younger brother Naresh Singh as his sibling. He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces since his childhood, like his father and eventually joined the Indian Army at the age of 20 years in the year 1999 after completing his school education. He was recruited into the 21 Kumaon battalion of the Kumaon Regiment one of the most decorated infantry regiments of the Indian Army, which traces back its history to the 18th century.

After serving few years, he got married to Ms Godavari and the couple was blessed with a son Manish and a daughter Chandani. He lost his mother Smt Yashoda Devi in the year 2005 and father in the year 2018. By the year 2020, he had served for over twenty years and had been promoted to the rank of Havildar. By then he had served in various operational areas and developed into a dedicated soldier. During 2020, he was serving at a field station and thus was staying without his family members, who were stationed at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

Ceasefire Violation(Rampur sector, J&K) : 01 May 2020

During 2020, Hav Gokaran Singh was serving with the 21 Kumaon battalion deployed at Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir along the LOC. The LOC was highly active and volatile where ceasefire violations occurred very often and without any warning. The Rampur Sector in Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir was part of LOC that bore the brunt of a number of ceasefire violations every year. During April/May 2020, Hav Gokaran Singh’s unit was deployed in this sector and the troops of 21 Kumaon were manning various forward posts along the LOC. Besides manning the forward posts the troops also undertook regular patrols to monitor the gaps between the posts.

On 01 May 2020 Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire in Rampur Sector and started heavy mortar shelling on Indian Army Posts. Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing using small arms, automatic weapons and mortar shells. Indian Army retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation and the exchange of fire continued for several hours. During the heavy exchange of fire, Hav Gokaran Singh and his comrade Naik Shankar Singh Mehra got severely injured and were rushed to the nearby army hospital. However, they succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Hav Gokaran Singh was a valiant and committed soldier who laid down his life in the line of his duty. 

Hav Gokaran Singh is survived by his wife Smt Godavari Devi, son Manish and daughter Chandani.