Hav Rajesh Kumar

Hav Rajesh Kumar belonged to Hirapur village in Ghumarwin tehsil of Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh. Son of Shri Joginder Singh and Smt Santosh Chandel, after completing his school education he joined the Indian army and was recruited into the 6 Dogra battalion of the Dogra Regiment, an infantry regiment known for its gallant soldiers and numerous battle honours.

After serving for a few years, Hav Rajesh Kumar got married to Ms Meenakshi and the couple was blessed with a son Ayush.

Manipur Attack: 04 June 2015

During 2015, Hav Rajesh Kumar’s unit was deployed in Manipur in the northeastern part of the country. There had been militant activity in the border region of Manipur in the early part of the year 2015. In response to this, 1,463-km of an un-fenced border between Manipur and Myanmar had been sealed and the Army and paramilitary forces had launched a major counter-offensive against the militants. On the 4^th of June, the 6 Dogra infantry was heading to the capital of Manipur, Imphal in a 4-vehicle convoy. While they were crossing the Chandel district, on the way, they were ambushed by militants. The tribal guerrillas fired rocket-propelled grenades and detonated improvised explosive devices on the convoy, causing extensive damage. 

The attack by militants on the convoy was planned by a joint group comprising of cadres from NSCN(K), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and Kanglapak Communist Party (KCP). The well-trained militants had planned the ambush beforehand and they triggered a landmine when the military convoy reached the area between Paralong village and Charong village in Chandel district. They also attacked the convoy with heavy automatic weapons, firing from vantage points and fired rockets and grenades. Most of the convoy, consisting of about 4 vehicles with 50 soldiers, was severely damaged and many soldiers were burnt to death on account of the blast. The few survivors were shot to death by the militants.

The incident was reported to be one of the deadliest attacks by militants in the area. Hav Rajesh Kumar was one of the 18 brave soldiers who lost their lives in this horrendous attack. Besides Hav Rajesh Kumar the other soldiers included  Nb Sub Ram Singh (from Samba), Hav. Sat Pal Bhasin (from Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir), Hav Sunil Kumar Sharma (from Sunderbani, J&K), Hav. Prakash Chand (from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh), Hav. Randeep Singh (from Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir), Nk Ashok Kumar (from Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh), L Nk Rajneesh Singh (from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh), Sep Ram Prasad Yadav (from Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh), L Nk Kuldeep Raj (from Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir), Sep Manoj Kumar (from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh), Sep Vijay Kumar (from Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir), Sep Vikas Bhardwaj (from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh), Sep Sohan Singh (from Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh), Cfn Bharateshwar (from Belgaum, Karnataka), Sep Jeetendra Kumar Kushwaha (from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh), Hav Jagveer Singh (from Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh) and Sep Manjit Singh (from Pathankot, Punjab). Hav Rajesh Kumar was a valiant and dedicated soldier who laid down his life in the service of the nation.

Hav Rajesh Kumar is survived by his father Shri Joginder Singh, mother Smt Santosh Chandel, wife Smt Meenakshi and son Ayush.