Lance Naik Antony Sebastian KM

Lance Naik Antony Sebastian KM hailed from Manakunnam village of Kannayanur tehsil in Ernakulam district of Kerala. Son of Smt Sheela, he had a sister Nivya as his sibling. He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces since his childhood and eventually joined the Indian Army after completing his school education in the year 2003 at the age of 19 years. He was recruited into the 70 Field Regiment of the Regiment of Artillery, an important combat support arm of the Indian Army operating heavy field guns, howitzers and other weapon systems. 

After serving for a few years, he got married to Ms Anna Diana Joseph and the couple had a son Aidan Michael. By the year 2018, he had been promoted to the rank of Lance Naik and had put in close to 15 years of service. By then he had the experience of working in various operational areas with different terrain and operating conditions. He was posted to J & K at the beginning of 2018, where his unit was deployed at the LOC.  

LOC Firing (Krishna Ghati sector): 12 Nov 2018
 

During Nov 2018, Lance Naik Antony Sebastian’s unit personnel were manning the forward posts in the Krishna Ghati sector of Rajouri district in J & K. India shares around 3000 Km border with Pakistan in which 740 Km of LOC falls in Jammu & Kashmir. The LOC is highly active and volatile where cross border firing occurs very often.  In 2017 alone, 860 ceasefire violations took place along the LOC and 111 incidents on the International Border, claiming the lives of several security personnel. In the year 2018, 633 ceasefire violations were recorded along the LOC and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir in the first two months of 2018. Of these 432 incidents were reported from the Line of Control and 201 on the International Border. On 12 Nov 2018, another ceasefire violation took place in Krishna Ghati Sector of J&K.

At around 5.15 PM, Pakistani troops initiated unprovoked firing on the Indian Posts from across the border in the Krishna Ghati Sector in J&K. The Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire and resorted to unprovoked firing using small arms, automatic machine guns, and mortars. Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively with the cross-border firing continuing for several hours. However, during the heavy exchange of fire, Lance Naik Antony Sebastian and Hav Mari Muthu who were manning one of the forward posts got seriously injured. Immediate medical assistance was provided to them and subsequently they were taken to the nearby Military Hospital. However, Lance Naik Antony Sebastian later succumbed to his injuries and attained martyrdom. Lance Naik Antony Sebastian KM was a disciplined and committed soldier who laid down his life at the age of 34 years in the service of the nation

Lance Naik Antony Sebastian KM  is survived by his mother Smt Sheela, wife Smt Anna Diana Joseph and son Aidan Michael.