Service No : 3189621H
Date of Birth : September 17, 1978
Place of birth : Fatehabad Dist(Har)
Service : Army
Last Rank : Sepoy
Unit : 8 Jat
Arm/Regt : The Jat Regiment
Operation : Op Vijay ( Kargil )
Martyrdom : July 9, 1999
Sepoy Narender Singh
Sepoy Narender Singh Jakhar hailed from Mehuwala village in Bhattu Kalan Tehsil of Fatehabad district in Haryana. Son of a BSF veteran Jai Singh Jakhar and Smt Reshma Devi, Sep Narender Singh was born on 17 Sept 1978. He did his schooling in Tekanpur Cantonment in the Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh and later in Fatehabad in Haryana. Sep Narendra Singh had a keen interest in sports and played volleyball and cricket. He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces since childhood, like his father and grandfather who also served in the Army, making Sep Narender Singh a third-generation soldier.
He eventually joined the Army after completing his school education in the year 1996, at the age of 18 years. He was enrolled into the 8 Jat Battalion of the Jat Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its gallant soldiers with a long history of numerous battle exploits.
Op Vijay (Kargil War): 08/09 July 1999
During 1999, Sep Narender Singh's unit 8 Jat battalion was deployed in J & K along the LOC. In 1999, the Indian Army detected a massive infiltration by the Pakistani military and paramilitary forces in the Kargil region of Jammu and Kashmir. The army quickly mobilized its forces to drive out the Pakistani infiltrators from Indian territory. At that time, the 8 Jat Battalion was functioning under the 28 Infantry Division (Vajr Division) headquartered at Kupwara in J&K with overall control being exercised by XV Corps. It was one of many battalions deployed in the region as part of "Op Vijay" to give a befitting reply to the aggression of Pakistani forces. During that period, the west of the Kaobal Gali, beyond Zoji La Pass, fell in the area of responsibility (AOR) 28 Infantry Division. Zoji La Pass located about 100 Km from Srinagar was in the Drass subdivision and connected the Kashmir valley to its west with the Drass and Suru valleys to its northeast and the Indus valley further east. It provided a vital link between Ladakh and the Kashmir Valley. It was important to ensure that the enemy's attempts to intrude into the territory on the Indian side of the LoC were nipped in the bud. Hence, vigorous patrolling was resorted to and operations were launched to dominate the LoC and the areas across it by observation and fire.
In one such operation by the 8 Jat battalion, Sep Narender Singh was part of the team assigned to dominate a 17,000-foot-high feature close to the LoC over extremely difficult and rugged terrain. On 08 July 1999, Sep Narender Singh and his team members began the operation by scaling a steep cliff, using special mountaineering equipment. However, the approach of his team was detected by the enemy who opened up a machine gun and mortar fire and then brought down effective artillery fire on them. Despite facing heavy artillery and mortar fire, as well as intense automatic weapon fire from the enemy, the platoon successfully scaled the challenging, rugged terrain using specialized mountaineering equipment and reached their objective. After a fierce battle, Sep Narender Singh and his comrades eventually captured the post.
However, under the cover of darkness and fog, the enemy counterattacked that same night, launching a heavy artillery bombardment on the newly captured post. In the intense shelling, a shell landed near Sep Narender Singh, and the devastating explosion severely injured him and a few of his comrades. He soon succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Besides Sep Narender Singh, four other soldiers of the 8 Jat Battalion laid down their lives in this entire operation. The other martyred brave hearts included, Hav Sis Ram Gill, Hav Lachhaman Singh, L/Nk Azad Singh, and Sep Pavitra Kumar Sheoran. Sep Narender Singh was a fearless and committed soldier, who displayed devotion to duty of a very high order during the operation and made the supreme sacrifice before he could even turn 21.
Sep Narender Singh Jhakar is survived by his father Shri Jai Singh Jakhar (BSF veteran) and mother Smt Reshma Devi.
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