Sep Dharajit Singh Chahar VrC

Sepoy Dharajit Singh Chahar hailed from Nagla Hira Singh village in Kiraoli tehsil of Agra district in Uttar Pradesh and was born on 15th September 1965.  After completing his school education he joined the army on 13 Jan 1985 at the age of 20 years. He was recruited into 4 Jat Battalion of the famed Jat Regiment, a regiment known for its fearless soldiers and numerous battle exploits. Very early in his service career, he got involved in active operations, as his unit got deployed as part of IPKF in Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lankan Operations (Op Pawan) : 13 Jan 1989

During Jan 1989, Sep Dharajit Singh Chahar's unit 4 Jat was deployed in Sri Lanka as part of IPKF. Pursuant to the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord, Indian forces were inducted into Sri Lanka in August 1987 to disarm various militant groups that were disrupting peace in the land. The dreaded LTTE—known for its guerrilla warfare—refused to disarm and attacked the IPKF, forcing the IPKF to launch several combat operations to quell the militants. The IPKF launched the operation, code-named “Op Pawan” with a mandate to neutralize the operational capability of the LTTE in and around Jaffna. The aim was to render the rebel movement directionless in the face of the impending assault on the LTTE strongholds by the IPKF. Initially, only 54 division of the Army was inducted but the escalation of the operations brought three more divisions 3, 4 and 57 into the conflict. By Jan 1989, Indian forces had undertaken numerous operations against LTTE but the war was far from over. 

Based on the information from the intelligence sources, Sep Dharajit Singh Chahar along with his team was tasked to carry out a search operation to find and neutralize the suspected LTTE militants on 13 Jan 1989.  As planned, Sep DS Chahar and his comrades laid an ambush against the militants at the road crossing on Vavuniya – Mannar road in Sri Lanka.  At about 0850 hours, he observed a group of militants approaching from an unexpected direction through the thick jungle. He alerted the ambush group and opened fire at the militants, when they were at a distance of 10 meters. During the ensuing exchange of fire, one of his comrades, Sepoy Sree Chand got wounded. One of the militants, after throwing his weapon toward his unarmed comrade, rushed forward to snatch away the rifle from Sep Sree Chand. Sep DS Chahar, without caring for his safety, charged at the militant and fired at his stomach and engaged him in hand to hand combat and killed him.  In the meantime, another militant sensing danger from the daredevil act of Sepoy Chahar, fired at Sep DS Chahar. He received a direct hit and was severely injured. Sep DS Chahar soon succumbed to his injuries and was martyred.

Sep DS Chahar was a valiant soldier, who displayed gallantry and devotion to duty of a very high order, during the operation. Sep Dharajit Singh Chahar was awarded “Vir Chakra”, on 26 January 1990 for his exceptional courage, indomitable spirit and supreme sacrifice in the line of his duty. Sep DS Chahar is survived by his wife Smt Brijesh Devi. 

Citation for the "Vir chakra" awarded to him reads:-

Sepoy Dharajit Singh Chahar of 4 Jat was a member of the party which laid an ambush against the militants at the road crossing on Vavuniya – Mannar road in Sri Lanka on the 13th of January 1989. At about 0850 hours he spotted a group of militants approaching from an unexpected direction through the thick jungle. He alerted the ambush group and opened fire on the militants when they were at a distance of 10 meters.

During the exchange of fire, Sepoy Sree Chand of his group was wounded. One of the militants, after throwing his weapon toward his unarmed comrade, rushed forward to snatch away the rifle from Sepoy Sree Chand. Sepoy Dharajit Singh Chahar, in total disregard for his personal safety, charged at the militant and fired at his stomach and engaged him in hand-to-hand close combat, and killed him. Another militant sensed danger from the daredevil act of Sepoy  Chahar fired a fatal burst that took his life.

Sepoy Dharajit Singh Chahar displayed conspicuous courage and valour in action against the militants.