Naik Lokesh Kumar

Naik Lokesh Kumar hailed from Yusufpur town in the Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. Son of Shri Udayveer Singh and Smt Kusum, he had a sister Rashmi as his sibling. Naik Lokesh Kumar wanted to serve in the Armed Forces since his childhood and eventually joined the Indian Army in the year 2013 after completing his school education. He was recruited into 25 Grenadiers of the Grenadiers Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers with a rich history of various battle honours. He was a keen sportsman and a good player of volleyball.  After serving for few years, he got married to Ms Tanu in the year 2020. 

Army Convoy Accident (Sikkim): 23 Dec 2022

During Dec 2022, Naik Lokesh Kumar's unit 25 Grenadiers 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. Naik Lokesh Kumar 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 25 Grenadiers, the soldiers traveling in the convoy belonged to various other units which included, 285 Med Regt, 221 Fd Regt, 26 Mech Inf, 8 Raj Rif, 113 Engr Regt and 1871 Fd Regt.  As the vehicle carrying Naik Lokesh Kumar 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, Naik Lokesh Kumar and fifteen other soldiers succumbed to their injuries and were martyred.

Besides Naik Lokesh Kumar, the other martyred soldiers included Nb Sub Omkar Singh (285 Med Regt), Nb Sub Chandan Kumar Mishra (285 Med Regt),  L/Hav Gopinath Makur (26 Mech Inf), Hav Charan Singh (26 Mech Inf), Sep Sukha Ram (26 Mech Inf), Nk Ravinder Thapa (26 Mech Inf), Nk Vaisakh S (221 Fd Regt), Nk Pramod Kumar Singh(221 Fd Regt), Nk Shyam Singh Yadav (25 Grenadiers), L/Nk Bhupendra Singh (25 Grenadiers), Gdr Vikash (25 Grenadiers), Sub Guman Singh (8 Raj Rif), L/Hav Arvind Kumar (8 Raj Rif), L/Nk Somvir Singh (113 Engr Regt), and L/Nk Manoj Kumar(1871 Fd Regt). Naik Lokesh Kumar was a valiant and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty.

Naik Lokesh Kumar is survived by his father Shri Udayveer Singh, mother Smt Kusum, wife Smt Tanu and sister Ms Rashmi.