Lance Naik Surjit Singh

Lance Naik Surjit Singh hailed from Ghugiana village in Faridkot tehsil of Faridkot district in Punjab and was born on 08 Nov 1965. Son of Shri Kala Singh and Smt Pal Kaur, Lance Naik Surjit Singh did his initial schooling in his native village. After completing his school education, he joined the Indian Army on 07 Feb 1983  at the age of 18 years. He was recruited into 111 Engr Regt of the Corps of Engineers, the important combat support arm of the Indian Army. He gradually developed into a dedicated and professionally competent soldier.

After serving for sometime, he got married to Ms Sarabjeet Kaur and the couple had two sons, Harpreet Singh &  Arshdeep Singh, and a daughter Jaspreet Kaur. By the year 1998, he had served for around fifteen years in various operational areas and had been promoted the the rank of Lance Naik.  

Op Rhino (Assam): 06 Aug 1998

During 1998, L/Nk Surjit Singh’s unit 111 Engr Regt was deployed in Nalbari district of Assam as part of "Operation Rhino".  As the AOR(Area of Responsibility) of the unit was affected by militancy, the unit troops were engaged in operations against the militants on a regular basis. The unit launched regular patrols to monitor suspicious activities as part of their operations to keep militancy under check. The militants invariably belonged to ULFA (The United Liberation Front of Assam) a designated revolutionary rebel organization, which sought to establish an independent state of Assam.  At that time, Assam was in a very fragile and volatile state owing to the frequent insurgent activities. The militants often launched surprise attacks on the security forces in retaliation to the counter-insurgency operations being undertaken by them. On 06 August an army convoy of five vehicles belonging to 313 Field Regiment was returning from Balilecha to Nalbari in Assam after completing an operational task. The convoy led by Lt Digvijay Panwar had soldiers from various units including L/Nk Surjit Singh of 111 Engr Regt. 

As the convoy reached Japarkuchi near college chowk about 1 km off Nalbari district headquarters, the insurgents from ULFA exploded an improvised explosive device (IED) in a pre-planned attack. Soon after the blast, the heavily armed insurgents resorted to firing at the soldiers. The IED blast followed by indiscriminate firing by the ultras took L/Nk Surjit Singh and his comrades by surprise and did not give them any time to react. Consequently L/Nk Surjit Singh, the convoy commander Lt Digvijay Panwar and Gunner Mam Chand having borne the brunt of the attack got severely injured. They soon succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Additionally three more soldiers got wounded, who were shifted to the base hospital at Basistha. L/Nk Surjit Singh was a dedicated and committed soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty at the age of 32 years.

Lance Naik Surjit Singh is survived by his wife Smt Sarabjeet Kaur, sons, Shri Harpreet Singh & Shri Arshdeep Singh, daughter Smt Jaspreet Kaur.