Naik Pramod Kumar Singh

Naik Pramod Kumar Singh hailed from Bampali village in Udwantnagar city in the Bhojpur District of Bihar. Son of an army veteran, he was the youngest among 5 children and had two brothers and two sisters as his siblings, He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces since his childhood and eventually joined the Indian army in the year 2011, after completing his school education. He was recruited into the 221 Fd Regt of the Regiment of Artillery, an important combat support arm of the Indian Army known for its booming field guns. The Regiment of Artillery has various Regiments that include Medium Regiments, Light Regiments, Missile Regiments, Rocket Regiments and SATA (Surveillance & Target Acquisition) Regiments with every Regiment having its own distinct equipment. By the year 2022, he had put in over 10 years of service and had been promoted to the rank of Naik.

Army Convoy Accident (Sikkim): 23 Dec 2022

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

Besides Nk Pramod Kumar Singh, 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), Sep Sukha Ram (26 Mech Inf), Nk Ravinder Thapa (26 Mech Inf), Hav Charan Singh (26 Mech Inf), Nk Vaisakh S (221 Fd Regt), L/Nk Bhupendra Singh (25 Grenadiers), Nk Shyam Singh Yadav (25 Grenadiers), Nk Lokesh Kumar (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). Nk Pramod Kumar Singh was a gallant and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty.

 Naik Pramod Kumar Singh is survived by his parents, wife, son and daughter.