Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, the commanding officer of the 21 Rashtriya Rifles unit, who lost his life during an operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Handwara, had been awarded for his exemplary bravery in counter-terrorist missions.
Colonel Sharma, who is survived by his wife and a 12-year-old daughter, had served in the Kashmir valley for a long time and twice awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry.
He had received his gallantry award once as a commanding officer after he killed a terrorist rushing towards his unit’s men on a road with a grenade hidden in his clothes. The colonel shot him at a close range and saved the lives of many of his troops along with Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel.
The resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh was also the first commanding officer or a colonel-rank official in the last five years to have lost his life in an encounter with terrorists.
Before him, Col MN Rai was killed in January 2015 during an operation in the Kashmir valley and Col Santosh Mahadik in November in the same year.
Other army personnel who lost their lives in the Handwara encounter include Major Anuj Sood, Naik Rajesh Kumar and Lance Naik Dinesh Singh. Sub-inspector Shakeel Qazi of Jammu and Kashmir police was also killed in the operation.
Two terrorists were also killed in the operation by the security forces in the remote location of Handwara.
A wreath-laying ceremony would be held in Srinagar after which the Col Sharma’s body would be flown to his home in Bulandshahr.
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