Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri

Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri hailed from Sarojni Nagar village in Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh. He joined the Army after completing his school education at the age of 19 years. He was recruited into 18 JAK Rif battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles Regiment, an infantry, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers and rich history of various battle honours.

Cross-Border Firing (Sunderbani Sector): 27 Nov 2020

During Nov 2020, Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri’s unit was deployed in Rajouri district of J&K. The unit troops were manning the forward posts in the Sunderbani sector along the LOC. The LOC remained highly active and volatile with ceasefire violations occurring very often and without any warning. The year 2019 witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations — 3289 — by Pakistani troops since 2003. Similarly the year 2020 too continued with ceasefire violations and the number exceeded 1400 by Sep 2020. In yet another case of ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops opened unprovoked fire in Sunderbani sector along the LOC on 27 Nov 2020.

On 27 Nov 2020, Pakistan Army troops initiated unprovoked firing on Indian posts from across the border in Sunderbani Sector of Rajouri district. During that period, Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri was manning one of the forward posts along the Line of Control in the Sunderbani sector. The Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and resorted to heavy cross border firing using small arms, mortars and field guns. Indian army responded in a befitting manner to the Pakistani aggression and consequently, a heavy exchange of fire ensued thereafter, which continued intermittently for several hours. However, during this heavy exchange of fire, Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri and Sep Sukhbir Singh got severely injured. They were evacuated and shifted to the Army medical facility for medical treatment. However they later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri was a gallant and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty.