Service No : 2681979
Date of Birth : January 3, 1968
Place of birth : Nagaur Dist (Raj)
Service : Army
Last Rank : Naik
Unit : 18 Grenadiers
Arm/Regt : The Grenadiers
Operation : Op Vijay ( Kargil )
Martyrdom : June 13, 1999
Naik Praburam Chotiya
Naik Praburam Chotiya hailed from Indas village of Nagaur district in Rajasthan. Son of Shri Dhannaram Chotia and Smt Gulab Devi and was born on 03 Jan 1968. He was passionate about serving in the Army since his childhood and eventually following his passion, joined the Army on 10 Sept 1987 at the age of 19 years. He was inducted into 18 Grenadiers Battalion of the Grenadiers Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers and various battle honours.
In the very early part of his service career, he got involved in active operations, when his unit got deployed in Sri Lanka as part of IPKF. He served in Sri Lanka as part of "Operation Pawan" from 02 September 1989, to 21 March 1990 and took part in various operations. Subsequently, he served in North Sikkim and Kashmir. After serving for some time, he got married to Ms Ruki Devi hailing from Rajasthan.
Battle of Tololing (Kargil War): 13/14 Jun 1999
During 1999, Nk Praburam Chotiya's unit 18 Grenadiers was deployed in the J & K along the LOC. On 03 May 1999, the intrusions by Pak forces were detected and on 26 May 1999, the first air-to-ground strike was launched by the Indian Airforce (IAF), followed by Operation Vijay, by the Indian Army to evict the intruders from the Indian areas. The army quickly mobilized its forces to drive out the Pakistani infiltrators from Indian territory. Nk Praburam Chotiya's 18 Grenadiers battalion, under the command of Col Kushal Thakur, was inducted into the Drass area by 3rd week of May 1999. The battalion was functioning under the command of 56 Mtn Bde, with overall operational control being exercised by 8 Mtn Div under Maj Gen Mohinder Puri. The Tololing Heights was the deepest penetration beyond the LC by the Pakistani intruders. The task of capturing the Tololing feature was assigned to 56 Mtn Bde. The Tololing feature comprised Pt 4590, Tololing Top, South East Spur, South Spur, and Hump to its north. Pt 4590 and Tololing Top dominated all the approaches leading to it. As per the plan of attack of 56 Mtn Bde, 2 Raj Rif was tasked to capture the Tololing top by 0600 Hr on 13 June 1999. 18 Garh Rif battalion was to capture Pt 5140 by 0700 hrs on 13 June. Two companies of 18 Grenadiers were to provide a firm base and the balance of the battalion was to act as reserve to 2 Raj Rif.
After the capture of Tololing top by the 2 Raj Rif battalion, by 13 June 1999, the 18 Grenadiers Battalion was tasked to capture Hump in conjunction with the 18 Garh Rif battalion. Nk Praburam Chotiya was part of the team of 18 Gren that was assigned the task. Nk Praburam Chotiya and his comrades launched the attack on the Hump on the night of 13/14 June 1999 preceded by heavy shelling by the Artillery. The area was heavily fortified, but Nk Praburam Chotiya along with his comrades kept on neutralizing the enemy’s resistance en route. Despite stiff resistance by the enemy, 18 Gren carried on with the attack and by morning captured part of Hump. However, during the fierce exchange of fire, Nk Praburam Chotiya got severely injured and was martyred. By mid-day on 14 June 1999, the Hump feature was captured which later facilitated the capture of Point 4590. Besides Nk Praburam Chotiya, twelve other soldiers of 18 Grenadiers were martyred during this entire operation. The other brave hearts martyred on 13 June 1999, included Nk Rajvir Singh, L/Nk Raj Kumar, L/Nk Shyam Singh, L/Nk Vinod Kumar, Gdr Surender Singh, Gdr Sukhbir Singh, Gdr Sita Ram Kumawat, Gdr Manohar Lal, Gdr Naresh Kumar and Gdr Ved Prakash. Two other soldiers, Hav Udham Singh and Hav Sidh Kam were later martyred on 14 Jun 1999. Nk Praburam Chotiya was a valiant and determined soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 21 years in the line of his duty.
Naik Praburam Chotiya is survived by his wife Smt Ruki Devi.
No Comments