Rifleman Suman Swargiari

Rfn Suman Swargiari hailed from Thekerakuchi village of Baksa district in Assam. He was inclined to join the Army since his younger days and kept working towards it. His resolve to join the armed forces got strengthened, when his father Shri Kanak fell to the militants' bullets in 2007 trying to broker peace in Assam's troubled Bodo heartland. Eventually he was recruited into 46 Assam Rif battalion of Assam Rifles, the oldest para-military force of India with its headquarters at Shillong. The battalion was engaged in defending the Indo-Myanmar border as well as conducting counter-insurgency operations in the North East states. After serving for sometime, Rfn Suman Swargiari got married to Ms Juri and the couple had a son Barad in the year 2017.

Manipur ambush: 13 Nov 2021

During Nov 2021, Rfn Suman Swargiari's unit 46 Assam Rif battalion, was deployed in Manipur for counter-insurgency operations. There had been increased militant activity in the border region of Manipur since the early part of the year 2021 and in response to this, the Army and paramilitary forces had been conducting coordinated operations along the 1,643-km of an unfenced border between Manipur and Myanmar. On 13 Nov 2021, Rfn Suman Swargiari and his comrades along with their Commanding Officer Col Viplav Tripathi were returning to their battalion headquarters at Khuga after a visit to the unit's forward operating base in Behiang area near India-Myanmar border. Rfn Suman Swargiari was part of the quick reaction team that was moving in a four vehicle convoy.

However, as the convoy reached Sehkan village in Churachandpur district of Manipur, the militants of PLA (People's Liberation Army) and MNPF (Manipur Naga People's Front) launched a surprise attack in a pre-planned move. At around 1030 hrs in the morning, the militants first detonated an IED and followed it up with indiscriminate firing from vantage points in the surrounding forested area. The attack was very sudden and devastating, giving no time for the soldiers to take any action. Consequently Col Viplav Tripathi, Rfn Suman Swargiari and three other soldiers lost their lives in this dastardly attack. Besides Rfn Suman Swargiari the other martyred soldiers included Rfn Khatnei Konyak, Rfn RP Meena and Rfn Shyamal Das. Rfn Suman Swargiari was a gallant and motivated soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty. 

Rfn Suman Swargiari is survived by his wife Mrs Juri Swargiari and son Barad.