Major Chitresh Bisht SM

Major Chitresh Bisht was born on 01 Dec 1987 in Dehradun in Uttarakhand. Son of a retired Police Inspector Shri SS Bisht and Smt Rekha Bisht, Maj Chitresh had an elder brother Neeraj and younger sister Shruti. Maj Chitresh joined the Army through Technical Entry Scheme (TES) in 2006 and completed engineering from College of Military Engineering (CME) Pune. He was commissioned on 12 June 2010 form IMA Dehradun into 55 Engineering Regt of the Corps of Engineers. One of the oldest arms of the Indian Army, the Corps of Engineers consists of three major constituents namely Combat Engineers, MES and Border Roads. The Corps also provides officers to the Military Survey and Defence Research & Development Organization. In war, Combat Engineers provide mobility to own forces by constructing bridges, tracks, and helipads; on the other hand, the Corps denies the same to the enemy by creating obstacles such as laying mine-fields and demolition of bridges.

Maj Chitresh Bisht was a Combat Engineer trained in laying and defusing mines and had undertaken numerous risky operations. During 2019 he was serving with 55 Engineering Regt and was operating as Bomb Disposal Squad leader in support of the unit’s operations.

Naushera Mine Clearing Operation: 16 Feb 2019

During 2019, Maj Chitresh Bisht’s unit was deployed in Naushera sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir. The unit was manning the forward posts along the LOC in Rajouri district. As the area of his unit’s operation was very volatile and prone to infiltration by militants, the unit had to maintain a strict vigil at all times and deployed armed patrols with regular frequency. The landmines along the patrol routes posed a serious danger to the troops and thus the Bomb Disposal Squad of the unit played a crucial role in sanitizing the routes. Maj Chitresh Bisht as leader of the squad was involved in numerous mine clearing operations for the unit.  On 16 Feb 2019, Maj Bisht was tasked to lead one such mine clearing operation in Laam sector of Naushera in Rajouri district.

At about 3 pm on 16 Feb, mines were detected on the Naushera track and Maj Bisht leading the Bomb Disposal Squad, got down to the task of sanitizing the track. He successfully defused one of the mines and with utter disregard to his own life, Maj Bisht continued to carry out the area sanitation and proceeded to neutralize another mine. However, while trying to deactivate the mine, the device got activated, triggering a blast. Maj Bisht facing the brunt of the blast absorbed most of the splinters, thereby screening his comrades behind him. Maj Bisht later succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Maj Chitresh Bisht was slated to get married on 07 Mar 2019 but was more devoted to the higher cause of serving the motherland and laid down his life in the service of the nation at the age of 31 years. Maj Chitresh Bisht was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” for his admirable courage, devotion to duty and supreme sacrifice.

Maj Chitresh Bisht is survived by his father Shri SS Bisht, mother Smt Rekha Bisht, brother Neeraj Bisht and sister Shruti Bisht.