Lieutenant Ravinder Chhikara KC

Lieutenant Ravinder Chhikara was born in the village of Kheri Asra in Haryana to Dr. Rattan Singh and Kamla Devi. After completing his schooling he joined the National Defence Academy. He was declared the ‘Best Sportsman’ of his course at the NDA. Later on, he went to join the Indian Military Academy and once again was declared the ‘Best Sportsman’ of his course. He joined the Indian Army on the 12^th December 1998 and was commissioned into the 6^th Grenadiers.

Joint Operation : 19 July 2000

Lieutenant Ravinder Chhikara’s unit which was stationed in J&K received information about the presence of terrorists in a village called Nalili. Immediately, the unit responded by launching a joint operation with the Ghatak PI under Lt Chhikara along with troops of 16 Sikh on 19^th July. Soon after, they moved in on the village and the Ghatak Party was spotted by the terrorists. Following this, the enemy opened devastating fire on the Party. Lt Chhikara saw immediate threat and scouted the area for the source of the fire. He found the house from which the fire had come and under the cover of LMG fire, advanced towards the room. He fearlessly swept into the room and shot a terrorist dead. Subsequently, the two other terrorists attempted to flee.

But Lt Chhikara would not let the enemy escape. He and his men began chasing after the remaining men. While chasing them, he realised that his BPJ was hampering his impending task hence he threw it off and ran behind the terrorists and the troops began closing in on the enemy. The terrorists suddenly took cover behind a boulder and opened fire on the party. Instantly, Lt Chhikara jumped behind another boulder and fired at the terrorists. He killed the enemy but in the exchange, he sustained serious injuries. Even this did not deter him and in the ultimate act of patriotism, he engaged in a hand to hand combat with the terrorist who fired at him. He took him down with a shot of his AK 47 before succumbing to his injuries.

.India lost one of her bravest soldiers that day. During the encounter, six foreign mercenaries were killed and huge quantity of arms and ammunition received. His fearless act and willingness to sacrifice his life for his motherland put him in the league of greatest Indian soldiers. His bravery was truly inspirational and he would always be saluted and remembered for that. Lieutenant Ravinder Chhikara received the award posthumously ‘Kirti Chakra’ for his bravery in the Rajouri district of J & K.

Lt Ravinder Chhikara is survived by his father Mr Rattan Singh and mother Mrs Kamli Devi and a younger brother.

The Kirti Chakra Award:-

On 19th of July 2000, Lieutenant Ravinder Chhikara KC was serving with 6 Grenadiers in the Poonch Rajouri sector, his team cornered six terrorists in a house. He volunteered to storm the house himself but encountered heavy automatic weapon fire from inside. His team retaliated but the terrorists ran into the adjoining Forest. Lieutenant Ravinder Chhikara along with his men chased them. He suffered mortal wounds during the encounter but personally accounted  for three terrorists before making the Supreme Sacrifice. for his bravery and supreme sacrifice he was awarded Kirti Chakra Posthumously.

• Haryana Government put up a statue of Lt Ravinder Chhikara at Jhajjar city at a square near Jahan-Aara bagh. This place is now called “Shaheed Chhikara Chowk”.