Sepoy Vinod Kumar Naga

Sepoy Vinod Kumar Naga hailed from Rampura village in Sikar district of Rajasthan and was born on 01 Nov 1976. Son of an Army veteran Hav Bhagirath Singh (Who served with 18 Jat Battalion) and Smt Rukma Devi, he developed an inclination to serve in the Army like his father and started working towards it.  Eventually, he joined the Indian Army on 06th Oct 1994 after completing his school education at the age of 18 years. He was recruited into 17 Jat of the well-known Jat Regiment, respected for its gallant soldiers and numerous battle exploits. After serving for a few years, he got married to Ms Suvita 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 Dras 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 Vinod Kumar Naga was serving in the rocket launcher detachment of the 'B' Company and was made part of the team that was assigned the task of conducting this operation.

Sep Vinod Kumar Naga 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 Vinod Kumar Naga 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 Vinod Kumar Naga 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 Vinod Kumar Naga destroyed many enemy bunkers and showed exemplary courage in repulsing the enemy attack. However in the exchange of fire, Sep Vinod Kumar Naga got hit by the enemy bullets, but continued to engage the enemy till he succumbed to his injuries and was martyred.

Eventually, the soldiers of the 17 Jat Battalion managed to destroy the enemy bunkers and captured 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 Vinod Kumar Naga 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 Vinod Kumar Naga, the other martyred brave hearts included Sub Harphool Singh, Sep Dharambeer Singh, Sep Gajpal Singh, Sep Ranveer Singh, and Sep Krishan Kumar. Unfortunately, Sep Vinod Kumar Naga’s body could be recovered many days after the operation and was cremated with full military honors. His father Hav Bhagirath Singh(Retd) gave the guard of honour to his son, which was indeed a rare and poignant moment. Sep Vinod Kumar Naga was given “Mention-in-Despatches” award for his outstanding gallantry, and supreme sacrifice. 

Sepoy Vinod Kumar Naga is survived by his father Hav Bhagirath Singh (Retd), mother Smt Rukma Devi and wife Smt Suvita Devi.

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

No 3187414X Sepoy Vinod Kumar Naga of ‘B’ Coy 17 Jat had been serving in the battalion for the last 4 years. He was in the rocket launcher detachment of ‘B’ company. Despite heavy shelling and automatic fire, he destroyed many enemy bunkers and showed exemplary courage and accurate fire while exploiting up to rocky knob. Despite getting injured due to automatic fire, he kept engaging the enemy till he finally succumbed to his injuries.