Sep Aman Kumar SM

Sepoy Aman Kumar hailed from Sultanpur village in Mohiuddin Nagar Tehsil in Bihar’s Samastipur district. Son of Shri Sudhir Kumar Singh and Smt Renu Devi, he was second among three brothers and a sister. He was inclined to serve in the army since his childhood and continued to pursue this dream. Eventually, he joined the Army in the year 2014, at the age of 19 years. He was recruited into 16 Bihar battalion of the Bihar Regiment, an infantry Regiment well known for its intrepid soldiers and numerous battle exploits. 

After serving for a few years he got married to Ms. Minu Devi in Feb 2019. By the year 2020, Sep Aman Kumar had put in around 5 years of service and had served in various operational areas. He was a deep-rooted soldier and would always motivate others in his village to join the army. Whenever he was home on leave, he would meet up with the people in his village and was liked by everyone.

Operation Snow Leopard: 15 June 2020

During June 2020, Sep Aman Kumar’s unit was deployed in eastern Ladakh close to the Line of Actual Control(LAC) as part of Operation Snow Leopard. Since early June the tension along the LAC was building up due to construction work in Galwan valley close to the road going from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie. The Chinese had a serious objection to the construction of a bridge across the Galwan river into the Aksai Chin area. The area held strategic importance to India as well as China as it dominated the road from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie an airstrip of great military significance to India. There had been many rounds of talks between senior military officials from both sides to diffuse the tensions. On 15 June 2020 night, hectic Chinese activities were noticed across the bridge in Galwan valley and the Indian Army decided to take up the matter with Chinese forces to ask them to respect the LAC and adhere to the position as agreed earlier during the talks.

Considering the gravity of the situation, Col Santosh Babu the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar battalion deployed in the area decided to lead the negotiations. However, an altercation during the discussion raised the tempers leading to a scuffle. Soon the scuffle turned into a violent clash with the Chinese soldiers attacking Col Santosh Babu and his men with deadly clubs and rods. The Indian soldiers were greatly outnumbered and the Chinese soldiers seemed to be prepared for the attack. As the clashes escalated, Sep Aman Kumar and other soldiers from the battalion too joined the beleaguered Indian troops to take on the Chinese soldiers. The clashes went on for many hours during which many Indian soldiers including Sep Aman Kumar got seriously injured. Sep Aman Kumar, the CO, Col Santosh Babu, and 18 other soldiers later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. The other brave hearts included Nk Deepak Kumar, Nb Sub Nanduram Soren, Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh, Nb Sub Satnam Singh, Hav K Palani, Hav Bipul Roy, Hav Sunil Kumar, Sep Ganesh Hansda, Sep Ganesh Ram, Sep Chandan Kumar, Sep CK Pradhan, Sep Gurbinder Singh, Sep Kundan Kumar, Sep Rajesh Orang, Sep KK Ojha, Sep Jai Kishore Singh, Sep Gurtej Singh, and Sep Ankush. Sep Aman Kumar was a valiant and dedicated soldier who laid down his life at the age of 25 years in the line of his duty. Sep Aman Kumar was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” on 26 Jan 2021 for his exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.

Sep Aman Kumar is survived by his wife Smt Minu Devi, father Shri Sudhir Kumar Singh, mother Smt Renu Devi, two brothers, and a sister.