Rifleman Mandeep Singh Rawat

Rifleman Mandeep Singh Rawat hailed from Shivpur village in Kotdwar tehsil, Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. His Father was an Ex-serviceman and he had a brother who is also serving in the army. Rfn Mandeep Singh joined the army in the year 2012 and was inducted into the Garhwal Rifles Regiment, a regiment known for its gallant soldiers and numerous battle honours.

After serving with his parent unit for few years, Rfn Mandeep Singh was deputed to serve with 36 Rashtriya Rifles battalion deployed in J & K for counter insurgency operations.

Gurez Sector Operation: 06 Aug 2018

During 2018, Rfn Mandeep Singh Rawat’s 36 RR battalion was deployed in the Gurez sector in J & K and was engaged in counterinsurgency operations. The Gurez sector is one of the remote parts of the valley located in Bandipora district around 125 km from Srinagar. The sector is heavily militarized and soldiers are stationed on mountaintop posts to guard the Line of Control and prevent infiltration of militants. The Gurez sector is snow-covered even in summers and militants do not have long tracts of forest cover either to use as escape routes or to sneak inside LOC.

On 06 Aug, around 1 am on eight-odd heavily armed terrorists tried to infiltrate into the Indian territory near Govind Nullah in Bakhtor area taking advantage of darkness. The alert soldiers noticed the unusual movement and challenged the infiltrators moving from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). Rfn Mandeep Singh Rawat along with his troops swung into action and engaged the militants trying to infiltrate. A fierce gun battle ensued thereafter in which two militants were killed. However, during the heavy exchange of fire Rfn Mandeep Singh Rawat , two of his comrades Rifleman Hameer Singh, Gunner Vikram Jeet Singh, and Maj Kaustubh Rane got severely injured. They were shifted to the 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar but later succumbed to their injuries.

Rfn Mandeep Singh Rawat was a brave and dedicated soldier who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation. Rfn Mandeep Singh Rawat is survived by his parents.