Major Sunil Bakshi

Major Sunil Bakshi hailed from Pune district of Maharashtra and was born on 04th August 1957. He joined the Army after completing his school education. He was commissioned into 4 Grenadiers of the Grenadiers Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers with a rich history of various battle honours. He gradually developed into a dedicated and professionally competent soldier and a fine officer.  Besides being a deep-rooted soldier, he was an affable and jovial person, who was liked by his peers and juniors as well. He was a keen sportsman too and, especially excelled in football and basketball. 

After serving for some time he got married to Ms Rashmi on 09 Oct 1986 at the age of 29 years and the couple had two daughters Smriti and Shruti. Later he was deputed to serve with 20  Assam Rifles battaliion, the oldest para-military force of India with its headquarters at Shillong. The battalion was engaged in defending the Indo-Myanmar border as well as conducting counter-insurgency operations in the North East states.

Manipur Ambush : 09 May 1994

During May 1994, Major Sunil Bakshi's unit 20 Assam Rif battalion, was deployed in Ukhrul district of Manipur for counter-insurgency operations. There had been increased militant activity in the border region of Manipur since the early part of the year 1994 and in response to this, the Army and paramilitary forces had been conducting coordinated operations along the unfenced border between Manipur and Myanmar. The Naga militants belonging to National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) were active in the AOR (Area of Responsibility) of the battalion and as a result Major Sunil Bakshi and his troops had to maintain a high state of alert at all times. NSCN was a Naga militant and separatist group operating mainly in northeastern part of India with minor activities in northwest Myanmar. In April 1988, the NSCN split into two factions; the NSCN-K led by Khaplang, and the NSCN-IM, led by Chishi Swu and Muivah. The split was accompanied by a spate of violence and clashes between the factions, which further exacerbated the situation on ground for the security forces. On 09 May 1994, 20 Assam Rif battalion troops were undertaking a patrol in Wino bazar of Ukhrul town along with Major Sunil Bakshi and Captain Labh Singh and 15 other soldiers. 

However in a pre-planned move at around 4;30 pm the suspected NSCN men launched an attack on the troops. As the attack was sudden and by the militants firing from safe places, Major Sunil Bakshi and his men did not get adequate time to move to a safe place and retaliate.  Major Sunil Bakshi and Captain Labh Singh took direct hits and got severely injured. They soon succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Besides the two officers, two other soldiers Lance Naik NP Singh and Lance Naik KC Ghosh sustained injuries. Major Sunil Bakshi was a brave soldier and a committed officer, who laid down his life at the age of 36 years in the line of his duty.   

Major Sunil Bakshi is survived by his wife Smt Rashmi Bakshi and daughters Ms Smriti Bakshi and Ms Shruti Bakshi.

• A road in Bali Nagar, New Delhi has been named as "Major Sunil Bakshi Marg, " in his honour.