Sep Sudhakar Ghule SC

Sepoy Sudhakar Ghule hailed from Sheroi village in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra and was born on 2nd May 1965.  After completing his initial education, he joined the army on 12 Dec 1983 at the age of 18 years. He got recruited into the 6 MLI battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment, an infantry regiment well known for its gallant soldiers and a number of battle honours. After completing his training, he served in various challenging operational areas and developed into a fine soldier with admirable soldierly skills. 

Operation Rakshak: 30 March 1991

During 1991, Sep Sudhakar Ghule’s unit was deployed in the J&K area as part of Op Rakshak. As his unit’s AOR (Area Of Responsibility) was affected with militant activities, the unit troops had to maintain a high level of readiness at all times and were engaged in operations against the militants on a frequent basis. Based on the reliable information from the intelligence sources about the presence of a large number of terrorists in the areas of village Sunur Kalipur and Rajwansher, a brigade operation was planned on 30 Mar 1991. 6 MLI battalion was tasked to lay the cordon and search in the prime target village of Sunur Kalipur. Sep Sudhakar Ghule was made part of the team that was tasked with this operation. Sep Sudhakar Ghule was Light Machine Gun (LMG) Number 2 and was deployed in the cordon to block the Northern escape route of the terrorists along with his comrade Sep Nivrutti Kotwal.

On 31 March 1991, at around 0445 hrs in a pitch dark dawn, a large group of terrorists stealthily moved towards the LMG position manned by Sep Sudhakar Ghule. However, Sep Sudhakar immediately detected the move and challenged the escaping terrorists. In a desperate attempt, the terrorists opened heavy volume of fire. But, Sep Sudhakar displaying commendable grit, mettle and determination swung into action and eliminated one terrorist.  Despite being wounded in the fierce gun battle, Sep Sudhakar pounced on the escaping terrorists along with Sep Nivrutti Kotwal and apprehended one of them.  However while doing so, he succumbed to his grievous injuries and was martyred.  Sep Sudhakar Ghule was a dedicated soldier with a high level of devotion to duty and laid down his life at the age of 25 years in the service of the nation. Sep Sudhakar Ghule was given the gallantry award, “Shaurya Chakra” on 26 January 1992 for his extraordinary courage, leadership and supreme sacrifice.

Sep Sudhakar Ghule is survived by his wife Smt Kadubai Ghule.

The citation for "Shaurya  Chakra" awarded to him reads:

On 30 March 1991 in Badgam District in OPERATIONRAKSHAK (Jammu & Kashmir), acting on the reliable info about the presence of a large number of Anti National Elements (ANEs) in the areas of village Sunur Kalipur and Rajwansher, a brigade operation was immediately planned and 6 Maratha Light Infantry was tasked to lay the cordon and search in the prime target village of Sunur Kalipur.

Sep Sudhakar Ghule was Light Machine Gun (LMG) Number 2 and was deployed in the cordon to block the Northern escape route of the ANEs, along with LMG Number -1 No 2786622F Sep Nivrutti Kotwal. On 31 March 1991, at 0445h in pitch-dark dawn, a large group of ANEs stealthily moved towards the LMG position manned by Sep Sudhakar Ghule. However, the alert soldier immediately detected the move and challenged the escaping ANEs. In a futile bid to escape, ANEs opened a heavy volume of fire. But, the grit, mettle and determination of this brave soldier repulsed their effort killing one of the ANEs. Though wounded in the fierce gun battle, Late Sep Sudhakar Ghule pounced on the escaping ANEs along with Sep Nivrutti Kotwal and apprehended one of the ANE before succumbing to his injuries.

For displaying outstanding courage and sheers disregard to his personal safety after being injured in face of grave danger to his life, Sep Sudhakar Ghule was awarded “Shaurya Chakra”.