Sepoy Ankush Thakur SM

Sepoy Ankush Thakur hailed from Karohta village in Himachal Pradesh and was born on 24 November 1998. Son of Shri Anil Thakur and Smt Usha Devi, he had a younger brother. His father, as well as grandfather, had served in the Army and he always wanted to continue the family tradition of serving in the Armed Forces. Thus,  after completing his schooling, he joined the Army in the year 2018 at the age of 19 years. He was recruited into the 3 Punjab battalion of the Punjab Regiment, one of the most well-known and decorated infantry Regiments of the Indian Army.  After completing his initial training in Faizabad, he was posted to Siachen Glacier as his first assignment but his unit later moved to Ladakh.

Operation Snow Leopard: 15 June 2020

During June 2020, Sepoy Ankush Thakur’s unit was deployed in eastern Ladakh close to the Line of Actual Control(LAC) as part of Operation Snow Leopard. Since early June the tension along the LAC was building up due to construction work in Galwan valley close to the road going from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie. The Chinese had a serious objection to the construction of a bridge across the Galwan river into the Aksai Chin area. The area held strategic importance to India as well as China as it dominated the road from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie an airstrip of great military significance to India. There had been many rounds of talks between senior military officials from both sides to diffuse the tensions. On 15 June 2020 night, hectic Chinese activities were noticed across the bridge in Galwan valley and the Indian Army decided to take up the matter with Chinese forces to ask them to respect the LAC and adhere to the position as agreed earlier during the talks.

Considering the gravity of the situation, Col Santosh Babu the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar battalion deployed in the area decided to lead the negotiations. However, an altercation during the discussion raised the tempers leading to a scuffle. Soon the scuffle turned into a violent clash with the Chinese soldiers attacking Col Santosh Babu and his men with deadly clubs and rods. The Indian soldiers were greatly outnumbered and the Chinese soldiers seemed to be prepared for the attack. As the clashes escalated, Sep Ankush Thakur and other soldiers from 3 Punjab too joined the beleaguered Indian troops to take on the Chinese soldiers. The clashes went on for many hours during which many Indian soldiers including Sep Ankush Thakur got seriously injured. Sep Ankush Thakur, the CO, Col Santosh Babu, and 18 other soldiers later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. The other brave hearts included Nk Deepak Kumar, Nb Sub Nanduram Soren, Nb Sub Satnam Singh, Hav K Palani, Hav Bipul Roy, Hav Sunil Kumar, Sep Ganesh Hansda, Sep Ganesh Ram, Sep Chandan Kumar, Sep CK Pradhan, Sep Gurbinder Singh, Sep Aman Kumar, Sep Kundan Kumar, Sep Rajesh Orang, Sep KK Ojha, Sep Jai Kishore Singh, Sep Gurtej Singh, and Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh. Sep Ankush Thakur was a valiant and dedicated soldier who laid down his life at the age of 21 years in the line of his duty. Sep Ankush Thakur was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” on 26 Jan 2021 for his exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.

Sep Ankush Thakur is survived by his father Shri Anil Thakur, mother Smt Usha Devi and a brother.