Service No : 4486876M
Date of Birth : 1984
Place of birth : Ludhiana Dist(Pun)
Service : Army
Last Rank : Havildar
Unit : 49 RR/11 Sikh LI
Arm/Regt : The Sikh LI
Operation : CI & IS Ops
Awards : Mention-in-Despatches
Martyrdom : April 20, 2023
Hav Mandeep Singh hailed from the Chinkoian village of Ludhiana district in Punjab and was born in the year 1984. Son of late Shri Roop Singh, he had a brother as his sibling. He studied till Class 8 at his hometown’s middle school and later joined Govt school at Shahpur in Ludhiana for classes 9 and 10. He had to travel 1.5 km every day from his native village to the school as the village did not have any high school at that time. He was a dedicated student and had chosen to serve the country after completing his education. He was a good athlete and made full use of the school playground to train himself for the Indian army. He later joined the Indian Army in the year 2005 after completing his Class XII.
He was recruited into the 11 Sikh LI Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, a regiment well known for its gallant soldiers. Thereafter he served in various army bases including Firozepur, Arunachal Pradesh, Dalhousie, and Poonch. After serving for some time, he got married to Ms Jagdeep Kaur and the couple had a daughter and a son. Hav Mandeep Singh always encouraged his children to pursue higher education and ensured that they were admitted to the best schools in the area. Later he was deputed to serve with 49 RR Battalion, deployed in J&K for counter-insurgency operations. By 2023, he had put in around 18 years of service in the Army and had served in numerous challenging operational areas.
Poonch Terrorist Attack (J&K): 20 Apr 2023
During 2023, Hav Mandeep Singh‘s unit 49 Raj Rif battalion was deployed in the Poonch district of J&K. The unit troops were engaged in operations against the terrorists regularly as the unit's area of responsibility (AOR) was active with militancy. The volatility of its AOR demanded 'high alert' at all times on the part of the troops. The area was also prone to infiltration, which necessitated regular armed patrols to check any infiltration from across the border. The battalion followed strict SOPs(Standard Operating Procedures) while moving its men and material by deploying road-opening teams to conduct sanitization of the area. On 20 Apr 2023, Hav Mandeep Singh and a few other soldiers were detailed to move to Sangiot from Bhimber Gali in Poonch district for an operational task. After clearance by the road-opening party (ROP), as planned Hav Mandeep Singh and his comrades set off for Sangiot in the afternoon of 20 Apr.
However, at around 1500 hrs, when their vehicle reached Bhata Dhurian, just a few kilometers from LOC, they came under attack by the terrorists. It was a pre-planned move by the terrorists who apparently had done the reconnaissance of the area and planned to attack at the time of their choosing. The heavily armed group of terrorists used grenades, automatic weapons, and sticky bombs too, in an attempt to cause maximum damage. The army truck carrying the soldiers was fired upon from three sides, with the terrorists taking advantage of poor visibility and bad weather conditions. The attack was so sudden and ferocious that Hav Mandeep Singh and his comrades did not have adequate time to take any action. The vehicle also caught fire after a targeted attack on its fuel tank. The resultant fire entrapped the soldiers and they got severely injured. As a result Hav Mandeep Singh and four other soldiers soon succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Besides Hav Mandeep Singh, the other martyred brave hearts included, Lance Naik Debashish Baswal, Lance Naik Kulwant Singh, and Sep Sewak Singh and Sep Harkrishan Singh. Hav Mandeep Singh was a fearless and committed soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 39 years in the line of his duty. Hav Mandeep Singh was awarded 'Mention-in-Despatches" (Posthumously) for his commendable courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.
Hav Mandeep Singh is survived by his widowed mother, wife Smt Jagdeep Kaur, daughter, and son.
Dixit Bhardwaj
2023 at 5:39 pmLove to all of the family members and our prayers will be always with you. Tribute to the heavenly body that stood straight for the entire nation. It can never be forgotten. Salute to you Sir. Jai Hind.