Naik Purushottam Kumar

Nk Purushottam hailed from the Gaya district in Bihar. Son of Shri Sriram Thakur, Nk Purushottam completed his studies till class X from Gaya High School then did his class XII from Mahesh Singh Yadav College. He had the inclination to join the armed forces since his younger days and continued to pursue his dream. Eventually,  Consequently, after passing his school education he joined the army13 Jan 2003 at the age of 20 years. 

He was recruited into 11 Jat Battalion of the Jat Regiment, an Infantry Regiment with a long history of gallantry and battle honours. After completing his initial training he was posted to the trouble-torn Kashmir valley. Thereafter Nk Purushottam served in various army bases at Bikaner & Jodhpur.  By 2020, Nk Purushottam had put in around 17-years of service and had served in various operational areas. After serving with his parent unit for some years, Nk Purushottam was deputed to serve with 45 RR battalion, deployed in J&K for counter-insurgency operations. In the year 2005, Nk Purushottam got married to Ms. Archana Kumari and the couple had two daughters Anamika Kumari & Ladhima Kumari, and a son Pushkar.

Machhil Sector Avalanche: 13 Jan 2020

During 2019-20, Nk Purushottam was serving with 45 RR Bn deployed in the Kupwara district of J&K. The AOR (Area Of Responsibility) of the Battalion ran along the LOC which was also prone to infiltration from across the border. Besides undertaking planned counter-insurgency and counter-infiltration operations, the unit launched regular armed patrols to monitor its area. Nk Purushottam was part of one such patrol on 13th Jan 2020 in Machhil Sector. The designated route of the patrol passed through the rugged area and was also prone to avalanches. As the patrol was traversing through the assigned route, it was struck by a horrific avalanche.

The avalanche took the soldiers by surprise and did not give them enough time to react. Nk Purushottam and his comrades got swept away and buried under tons of snow. A rescue operation was launched by the army on a war footing. Though the rescue operation got hampered by the implement weather, the team managed to extricate a few of the buried soldiers. However, Nk Purushottam and three of his fellow soldiers, Nk Rameshwar Lal, Gnr Ranjit Singh and Sep Chandrabhan Chaurasia could not be saved and were martyred. 

Nk Purushottam was a dedicated and valiant soldier who laid down his life in the line of his duty. Ironically Nk Purushottam was martyred on the same day (13th Jan) 17 years after he had joined the army on 13 Jan 2003.  He is survived by his father Shri. Shriram Thakur, wife Smt. Archana Kumari, two daughters  Anamika Kumari & Ladhima Kumari, and son Pushkar.