Lance Naik Manoj Kumar Yadav

Lance Naik Manoj Kumar Yadav hailed from Manjri village of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan and was born on May 13, 1995. Son of Shri Jagdish Prasad and Smt Vimla Devi, he had a brother Pramod as his sibling. He completed his 10th standard from Pacheri Khurd and 12th Std from Cambridge School, Singhara. He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces like many young people in Jhunjhunu district, since his childhood and eventually joined the Indian Army in 2015 at the age of 20 years. He was recruited into the 1871 Field Regiment of the Regiment of Artillery, an important combat support arm of the Indian Army, well known for its booming field guns, howitzers, and other heavy weaponry.

After the completion of his training at Nashik, he was posted to Gurez sector in J&K as his first assignment.  After staying there for a year and a half, he was posted to Gurdaspur district in Punjab. After serving for a couple of years, he got married to Ms Jyoti in the year 2018, and the couple was blessed with a daughter Avani in the year 2019. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Naik in 2021. By 2022, he had completed around 7 years of service and had developed into a tough and dedicated soldier. 

Army Convoy Accident (Sikkim): 23 Dec 2022

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

Besides L/Nk Manoj Kumar Yadav, the other martyred soldiers included Nb Sub Chandan Kumar Mishra (285 Med Regt), Naib Subedar Omkar Singh (285 Med Regt), Hav Charan Singh (26 Mech Inf), Sep Sukha Ram (26 Mech Inf), L/Hav Gopinath Makur (26 Mech Inf), Nk Ravinder Thapa (26 Mech Inf), Nk Vaisakh S (221 Fd Regt), Nk Pramod Kumar Singh(221 Fd Regt), L/N 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/Hav Arvind Kumar (8 Raj Rif), L/Naik Somvir Singh (113 Engr Regt), . L/Nk Manoj Kumar Yadav was a gallant soldier and committed soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 27 years in the line of his duty.

L/Nk Manoj Kumar Yadav is survived by his father Shri Jagdish Prasad, mother Smt Vimla Devi, brother Shri Pramod (Serving in BSF), wife Smt Jyoti and daughter Avani.