Lance Naik Anil Kumar

Lance Naik Anil Kumar hailed from Sahabda village in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh and was born on 30 Jun 1968. Son of Shri Rajjan Lal and Smt Savitri Devi, L/Nk Anil Kumar had two brothers Shivendra and Anoop as his siblings. He was inclined to serve in the Army since his younger days and eventually joined the Army after completing his school education on 15 Jan 1988 at the age of 20 years. He was recruited into 22 Mech Inf of the Mechanized Infantry Regiment, one of the youngest Regiments of the Indian Army, formed after the 1965 Indo-Pak war to provide greater mobility to the Infantry.

After serving for a few years, he got married to Ms Ram Kumari on 23 May 1987 and the couple was blessed with a son Anand Kumar, and two daughters Pooja and Kalpana. After serving with his parent regiment for some time, he was deputed to serve with the 35 RR battalion deployed in J&K for counter-insurgency operations. By the year 1997, he had put in around 09 years of service and developed into a dedicated and tough soldier.

Drass Sector Operation (Op Rakshak): 23 Dec 1997

During 1997 L/Nk Anil Kumar’s unit 35 RR battalion was deployed in the Drass sector of J & K along the LOC as part of "Operation Rakshak". As the area of responsibility (AOR) of the unit was affected by militant activities, the unit troops had to maintain a high level of readiness at all times and often undertook operations against the militants. As the area of his unit’s operation was also prone to infiltration by militants, the unit deployed armed patrols with regular frequency. Based on the information from the intelligence sources, about the presence of some terrorists in Drass village, the security forces decided to launch an operation to neutralize them on 23 Dec 1997. L/Nk Anil Kumar was made part of the team that was assigned the task of undertaking this operation. 

As planned L/Nk Anil Kumar and his comrades reached the suspected area in Drass village of Kargil district and launched the cordon and search operation. L/Nk Anil Kumar was in the lead element of his party when it came into contact with the terrorists during the search operation in Drass village. A fierce gun battle followed thereafter with heavy exchange of fire. The assault team managed to eliminate three terrorists in the firefight, however, L/Nk Anil Kumar sustained multiple gunshots in the face, neck, and arm during the operation. Despite being grievously injured, he continued to fight till he collapsed, where he eventually succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. L/Nk Anil Kumar was a gallant and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 29 years in the line of his duty.

L/Nk Anil Kumar is survived by his father Shri Rajjan Lal, mother Smt Savitri Devi, wife Smt Ram Kumari, son Anand Kumar, two daughters Pooja & Kalpana, and two brothers Shri Shivendra Kumar & Shri Anoop Kumar.