Sepoy Chandrakanta Pradhan SM

Sepoy Chandrakanta Pradhan hailed from Beorapanga village in Kandhamal district of Odisha and was born on 2nd March 1992. Son of Shri Karunakar Pradhan and Smt Bilasani Pradhan, Sep Chandrakanta came from a very humble background belonging to a marginal farmer community. After his school education, he joined the Army in the year 2014 at the age of 21 years.

He was recruited into 16 Bihar of the Bihar Regiment, an infantry Regiment well known for its brave soldiers and numerous battle exploits. Sep Chandrakanta Pradhan was catholic and a very religious person. He was a quiet child while growing up and had a helping nature which endeared him to everyone.

Operation Snow Leopard: 15 June 2020

During June 2020, Sep CK Pradhan’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 Sep CK Pradhan 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 CK Pradhan and other soldiers from the battalion 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 CK Pradhan got seriously injured. Sep C Pradhan, 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, Nb Sub Mandeep Singh, Hav K Palani, Hav Bipul Roy, Hav Sunil Kumar, Sep Ganesh Hansda, Sep Ganesh Ram, Sep Chandan Kumar, Sep Gurbinder Singh, Sep Aman Kumar, Sep Kundan Kumar, Sep Rajesh Orang, Sep KK Ojha, Sep Jai Kishore Singh, Sep Gurtej Singh, and Sep Ankush. Sep CK Pradhan was a valiant and dedicated soldier who laid down his life at the age of 28 years in the line of his duty. Sep CK Pradhan was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” on 26 Jan 2021 for his exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.

Sep Chandrakanta Pradhan is survived by his father Shri Karunakar Pradhan, mother Smt Bilasani Pradhan, one sister and two brothers.