Lance Hav Arvind Kumar

Lance Havildar Arvind Kumar hailed Jhojhu Kalan in Bhiwani district in Haryana. He was very passionate about the Armed Forces since his younger days following his passion, eventually, he got selected and joined the Indian army in 2007. He was recruited into the 8 Raj Rif battalion of Rajputana Rifles, the oldest Rifle regiment of India with its headquarters at New Delhi.

Army Convoy Accident (Sikkim): 23 Dec 2022

During Dec 2022, L/Hav Arvind Kumar's unit 8 Raj Rif 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. L/Hav Arvind Kumar 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 8 Raj Rif, the soldiers travelling in the convoy belonged to various other units which included 285 Med Regt, 26 Mech Inf, 221 Fd Regt, 25 Grenadiers, 113 Engr Regt and 1871 Fd Regt.  As the vehicle carrying L/Hav Arvind Kumar 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 the 20 soldiers got severely injured.  The Army quickly launched the rescue operation and the injured soldiers were transferred to a field hospital,  However L/Hav Arvind Kumar and fifteen other soldiers succumbed to their injuries and were martyred.

Besides L/Hav Arvind Kumar, the other martyred soldiers included Nb Sub Chandan Kumar Mishra (285 Med Regt), Nb Sub Omkar Singh (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), L/Nk Bhupendra Singh (25 Grenadiers), Nk Shyam Singh Yadav (25 Grenadiers), Nk Lokesh Kumar (25 Grenadiers), Gdr Vikash (25 Grenadiers), Sub Guman Singh (8 Raj Rif), L/Nk Somvir Singh (113 Engr Regt), and L/Nk Manoj Kumar(1871 Fd Regt).  L/Hav Arvind Kumar was a gallant and committed soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty.

L/Hav Arvind Kumar is survived by his wife (Employed with Haryana Police) and son.