Service No : 4361169H
Date of Birth : January 25, 1972
Place of birth : Rudraprayag (U'khand)
Service : Army
Last Rank : Rifleman
Unit : 17 Garh Rif
Arm/Regt : The Garhwal Rifles
Operation : Op Vijay ( Kargil )
Martyrdom : June 30, 1999
Rifleman Bhagwan Singh
Rifleman Bhagwan Singh hailed from Kyunja village in Ukhimath tehsil of Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand and was born on 25 Jan 1972. Son of Shri Thepar Singh and Smt Bachandei Devi, Rfn Bhagwan Singh was the eldest child and had three brothers Jagdish Singh, Mohan Singh, and Baldev Singh, and two sisters Jasoda Devi & Rekha Devi as his siblings. Rfn Bhagwan Singh joined the army after completing his school education on 19 Jun 1989 at the age of 17 years. He was recruited into the 17 Gharwal Battalion of the Gharwal Rifles Regiment, an infantry regiment well known for its gallant soldiers.
After serving for a few years, he got married to Ms Sundri Devi and the couple had a son Bipin Singh (Born on 17 May 1994), and a daughter Aarti (Born on 31 July 1997). By the year 1999, he had put in around 10 years of service and had developed into a professionally competent and committed soldier.
Batalik Sector Operation (Op Vijay): 29/30 Jun 1999
During the Kargil war, Rfn Bhagwan Singh's unit 17 Garh Rif was deployed in the Batalik-Yaldor area of the J&K sector as part of "Op Vijay". The unit was functioning under the command of the 70 Infantry Brigade with the overall control being with the 3 Infantry Division. By early May 1999, Pakistani forces had intruded well across the LOC, in the Mushkoh, Dras, Kaksar, and Batalik sectors. The extent of penetration across the LOC varied from 4 to 8 km in each sector. The intrusions in Batalik -Yaldor area were first detected in the first week of May 1999. In many vital points, neither artillery nor air power could dislodge the enemy forces, who were not in visible range. On discerning the layout of ground and enemy intrusions, it was decided to first drive a wedge in the enemy intrusion area by opening a corridor to the LOC through the Junk Lungpa and thereafter tackle each area piecemeal. This task was given to 12 JAK LI along with 10 Para(SF) and a company of Ladakh Scouts and was completed by 03 June 1999. However, the enemy continued to occupy the ridges to the West, East, and North. Having secured the corridor through the Junk Langpa, it was decided to capture the other ridges one by one. After the capture of Pt 5203 on 08 June 1999, it was decided to capture the northern heights of the western flanks on Jubar Ridge in the general area of Bump II & III and Kala Pathar. Rfn Bhagwan Singh's unit 17 Garh Rif was given this task. The plan was to capture the enemy positions of Bump III, Kala Pathar, and Mound with a Company each. The enemy positions were all located between Bump II and Bump III, where para special forces had been sent earlier. The battalion planned to establish a firm base at a distance of 4-5 Km at a location known as Flat Area in China Nala, where they could carry out the final preparations for the attack.
The attacking columns comprising Rfn Bhagwan Singh and other soldiers under the leadership of Capt Gogoi commenced their movement in the last light of 29 June 1999. The troops set course towards the objective which entailed an arduous climb of nearly 1 km. However, they were spotted by the enemy and were surrounded from all directions. On being asked to surrender Rfn Bhagwan Singh and other troops of 17 Garh Rif led by Capt Jintu Gogoi charged at the enemy troops with their Regimental war cry, “Badri Vishal Lal Ki Jai (Victory to the Sons of Lord Badri Nath)”. Rfn Bhagwan Singh and his comrades fought valiantly and engaged in a fierce gun battle. However, during the exchange of fire, Rfn Bhagwan Singh got seriously injured. He later succumbed to injuries and was martyred. Besides Rfn Bhagwan Singh, eleven other soldiers of 17 Garh Rif laid down their lives during this entire operation. The other martyred brave hearts included, Capt Jintu Gogoi, Naik Shiv Singh, Lance Naik Madan Singh, Lance Naik Devendra Prasad, Lance Naik Dinesh Datt, Rfn Birendra Lal, Rfn Amit Negi, Rfn Vijay Singh, Rfn JS Bhandari, Rfn Ranjeet Singh, and Rfn SC Sati. The battalion launched fresh attacks in the subsequent days and took over the given objective. This paved the way for further successes – the battalion proceeded to take another dominating feature in the Muntho Dhalo complex, finally taking Point 5285 despite heavy snowfall and effective enemy fire. The battalion was later awarded the Battle Honour ‘Batalik’ for its exploits in 'Op Vijay'. Rfn Bhagwan Singh was a brave and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 27 years in the line of his duty.
Rfn Bhagwan Singh is survived by his wife Smt Sundri Devi, son Shri Bipin Bisht, and a daughter Ms Aarti Bisht.
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