Subedar Suresh Chand Yadav AC

Subedar Suresh Chand Yadav hailed from Khetan Khera village in Alwar District of Rajasthan was born on 01st Jun 1961. Son of Shri Gokul Ram Yadav and Smt Dodi Devi, Sub Suresh Chand was inclined to join the Indian Army right from his younger days like many young people in Rajasthan.  After completing his school education, he followed his childhood dream of joining the army with determination and eventually was successful in the year 1978 at the age of 17 years. He got recruited into the 13 Mahar battalion of the famed Mahar Regiment, an infantry regiment well known for its gallant soldiers and a number of battle honours.

After completing his training, he served in various operational areas and developed into a fine soldier with admirable leadership skills. After serving for few years he got married to Ms Chandra Devi and the couple had a daughter Sunita and two sons, Manoj Kumar and Sandeep Singh. By 2000, he had been promoted to the rank of Subedar and had gathered substantial field experience. Later in the year 2001, Sub Suresh Chand was selected to join the National Security Guard, a force specially equipped and trained to tackle varous forms of terrorism. On completion of training, he was assigned to 51 Special Action Group (51 SAG) a unit specially trained for counter terrorism operations. 

Operation Vajra Shakti : 24-25 Sep 2002

On 24 Sep 2002, two armed terrorists launched an attack on the Akshardham Swamy Narayan Temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Within a short span of time, the terrorists killed 30 people and injured over 100 people present in the complex. In response to this act of terrorism, an operation called, "Operation Vajra Shakti" was launched by Indian security forces spearheaded by 51 SAG, the offensive arm of NSG, specially trained to deal with such acts of terrorism. In the shortest possible time 51 SAG commandos were flown in to deal with the situation. Sub Suresh Chand Yadav formed part of that task force.

As the operation against the terrorists was launched, Sub Suresh Chand and his comrades got deployed at various vantage points. As the situation demanded, Sub Suresh Chand led a group of Commandos to distract the terrorists and provided cover to other Commandos to attack the terrorists. On seeing one comrade injured by gunshot, Sub Suresh Chand without caring for his personal safety, moved forward under a heavy fire and evacuated him. At another moment, realizing that his Team Commander was pinned down by the heavy terrorists' fire, Sub Suresh Chand crawled forward to give covering fire to his Team Commander, so that he could extricate himself. He then proceeded to lob grenades and fire at the terrorists drawing fire towards himself.

This daredevil act of Sub Suresh Chand enabled the rest of the team to close in safely towards the terrorists in order to neutralize them. During this process, Sub Suresh Chand reached quite close to one of the terrorists. However, when Sub Suresh Chand was less than 5 mtrs away from the terrorist, he received a burst of fire direct on to his face which seriously wounded him. Despite bleeding profusely, he closed in further and killed the attacking terrorist at close quarters. But Sub Suresh Chand soon succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Sub Suresh Chand Yadav was a gallant soldier and gritty Junior Commissioned Officer, who displayed outstanding courage and laid down his life in the line of his duty. Sub Suresh Chand Yadav was given the nation’s highest peace time gallantry award “Ashok Chakra”, for his exceptional bravery, leadership, camaraderie and supreme sacrifice.

Sub Suresh Chand Yadav is survived by his father Shri Gokul Ram Yadav, mother Smt Dodi Devi, wife Smt Chandra, daughter Sunita, and two sons Manoj Kumar & Sandeep Singh.

The Citation for "Ashok Chakra" awarded to him reads:

On 24 Sep 2002, two armed terrorists entered into the Akshardham Swamy Narayan Temple, Gandhinagar, Gujarat and started firing indiscriminately. The terrorists killed 30 people and injured over 100 people present in the complex.

The Special Action Group of NSG was flown in to deal with the situation. Sub Suresh Chand Yadav formed part of the Task Force, and led a group of Commandos to distract the terrorists and provided cover to other Commandos to attack the terrorists. The terrorists were in thick shrubs and under cover of darkness. On seeing one comrade receiving a gunshot wound, Sub Suresh Chand Yadav without caring for his life and personal safety, moved forward under a heavy terrorist's fire and evacuated him.

Realizing that his Team Cdr was pinned down by the accurate and heavy fire, Sub Suresh Chand Yadav crawled forward to give covering fire to his Team Cdr, so that he could extricate himself. After establishing contact with his Team Cdr, Sub Suresh Chand Yadav proceeded to lob grenades and fire at the terrorists drawing fire towards himself, which would enable the rest of the team to close in safely towards the terrorists in order to neutralize them. When he was less than 5 mtrs away from the terrorists, he received a burst of fire direct on to his face which seriously wounded him. Despite bleeding profusely, he closed in further and killed one terrorist at close quarters before succumbing to his injuries.

Sub Suresh Chand Yadav displayed raw courage, total dedication to the mission, leadership and tactical acumen of the highest order and sacrificed his life for the nation.