Sepoy Gajpal Singh

Sepoy Gajpal Singh Agre hailed from Nagla Choudhary village in the Sadabad tehsil of Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh and was born on 10 Oct 1977. Son of an Army veteran Subedar Ramkishan Choudhary (Retd) and Smt Phoolmati Devi, he developed an inclination to serve in the Army like his father while growing up and started working towards it.  Eventually, he joined the Indian Army on 15 Aug 1996 after completing his school education at the age of 19 years. He was recruited into 17 Jat of the well-known Jat Regiment, a Regiment widely respected for its gallant soldiers and numerous battle exploits. After serving for sometime, he got married to Ms Sunita Devi.

Operation Vijay (Kargil War): 29/30 May 1999

By April 1999, Pakistani forces among other hill features had also occupied Point 4875, in Mashkoh valley. The Mashkoh valley provided a possible route of infiltration into the Kashmir valley as well as into the Doda-Kishtwar-Bhadrewah areas of Jammu. Point 4875 dominated the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh national highway between Zozi La pass and Drass and had strategic importance for the Indian Army. Those manning the Pakistani artillery observation post at Point 4875 could easily spot convoys moving on the national highway and bring down artillery fire on them. Thus the clearance of Point 4875 became a high priority mission and the responsibility was given to 79 Mountain Brigade under Brig Ramesh Kakar. 17 Jat battalion was inducted into the Mashkoh valley on 26 May 1999 under the command of Col Umesh Singh Bawa. The battalion was tasked to capture Point 4540 as a prelude to the capture of Point 4875. Sep Gajpal Singh as part of No 2 Section of the 'B' Company joined the team that was assigned the task of conducting this operation.

Sep Gajpal Singh along with other 37 soldiers led by Sub Harphool Singh set off for their objective as planned. The enemy forces were well entrenched and were keeping a close watch on the movement of Indian soldiers. By 4 AM Sep Gajpal Singh and his comrades had reached very near to the enemy bunker and when they were about 100 meters from the bunker the enemy soldiers launched the attack. Sep Gajpal Singh and other soldiers quickly swung into action and retaliated forcefully. A fierce gun battle followed thereafter with heavy exchange of fire. Despite heavy shelling by the enemy, Sep Gajpal Singh kept advancing towards the enemy bunkers and showed exemplary courage in repulsing the enemy attack. However, in the exchange of fire, Sep Gajpal Singh got hit by the enemy bullets but showing great courage, eliminated two enemy soldiers before succumbing to his injuries.

Eventually, the soldiers of the 17 Jat Battalion managed to destroy the enemy bunkers and capture the given objective. The capture of Point 4540 was very important which eventually paved the way for the capture of the strategically significant Point 4875. Sep Gajpal Singh displayed commendable courage and devotion to duty during the operation and laid down his life at the age of 22 years in the line of his duty. Besides Sep Gajpal Singh, the other martyred brave hearts included Sub Harphool Singh, Sep Vinod Kumar Naga, Sep Dharambeer Singh, Sep Ranveer Singh, and Sep Krishan Kumar. Sep Gajpal Singh was given the “Mention-in-Despatches” award for his outstanding gallantry, camaraderie and supreme sacrifice. 

Sep Gajpal Singh Agre is survived by his wife Smt Sunita Devi.

The citation for "Mention-in-Despatches" awarded to him reads:

No 3189532K Sepoy Gajpal Singh of ‘B’ COY, 17 Jat had been serving in the battalion for the last 2 years, 9 months. He was a part of the number 2 section of B company and was tasked to exploit up to Rocky Knob on capture of point 4540. Under heavy enemy automatic fire and shelling he kept advancing towards the enemy bunkers. Despite being injured due to enemy fire, Sep Gajpal Singh showed exemplary courage and charged on the enemy bunker, personally killing two enemy soldiers in a hand-to-hand fight before succumbing to his injuries.