Operation Keran: Courage under fire

There is one Paratrooper of Special forces of the Indian army per 1 lakh people (That's literally लाखों में एक) . On 7 April 2020, we lost 5 of them.

Subedar Sanjeev Kumar

Subedar Sanjeev Kumar hailed from Himachal Pradesh. He belonged to the 4 Para (SF) battalion of the Parachute Regiment, an elite infantry Regiment well known for its daredevil para commandos and numerous bold operations. By the year 2020, Sub Sanjeev Kumar had put in over 20 years of service and evolved into a battle hardened soldier and a very dependable junior commissioned officer of the unit.

Hav Davendra singh

Hav Davendra Singh hailed from Uttarakhand. He belonged to the 4 Para (SF) battalion of the Parachute Regiment, an elite infantry Regiment well known for its daredevil para commandos and numerous bold operations.

PTR Bal Krishan

Paratrooper Bal Krishan hailed from Himachal Pradesh. He belonged to the 4 Para (SF) battalion of the Parachute Regiment, an elite infantry Regiment well known for its daredevil para commandos and numerous bold operations.

PTR Amit Kumar

Paratrooper Amit Kumar hailed from the state of Uttarakhand. He belonged to the 4 Para (SF) battalion of the Parachute Regiment, an elite infantry Regiment well known for its daredevil para commandos and numerous bold operations.

PTR Chatrapal Singh

Singh hailed from Chhawashri village of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan and was born on 12 Aug 1997. Son of Shri Suresh Kumar Pal and Smt Shashikala Devi, Ptr Chhatrapal Singh joined the army in the year-2015 at the age of 18-years. He belonged to the 4 Para (SF) battalion of the Parachute Regiment, an elite infantry Regiment well known for its daredevil para commandos and numerous bold operations. By the year 2020, Ptr Chhatrapal Singh had put in over 05 years of service and had evolved into a dedicated and disciplined soldier.

Courtesy of Honourpoint

The movement of the infiltrating terrorists was first picked in the Keran sector on 2 April.

“There was a ceasefire violation that took place on the intervening night of 1-2 April. Following this, our specialised radar picked up the movement of a group of terrorists that had sneaked into the Indian territory,” said a senior Army officer, who didn’t wish to be named.

Following this, efforts were made to proactively track the movement of the terrorists. This involved the use of drones as well. The regular troops in the sector were alerted and patrolling and sighting was increased. Additional troops were also called in to make a cordon of sorts.

On 4 April, a decision was made to insert personnel of the 4 Para.

The Keran sector of the LoC comes under the elite unit’s operation.

On 05 April 2020, 4-Para (SF) battalion summoned a special forces team consisting of 5 elite soldiers. Heavy snow and a difficult terrain pushed the Army authorities to call in its Special Forces. Based on the information gathered through UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) of the Army intelligence network, an operation was planned on 05 Apr 2020 to foil an infiltration attempt in the Karen sector. Sub Sanjeev Kumar was tasked to lead that operation along with a team of para commandos that included Hav Davendra Singh, PTR Bal Krishan, PTR Chatrapal Singh and PTR Amit Kumar. As the suspected area was snow-covered and inaccessible the assault team was planned to be airdropped to integrate an element of surprise too in the operation.

The two squads of the elite para commandos were airdropped in the suspected area as planned in poor visibility conditions. But soon the team spotted the footsteps of the terrorists in the snow and decided to follow the trail. As the soldiers were following the snowbound trail, at one point the hardened snow under their feet gave way plunging three members of the team into a nullah. However, the soldiers after tumbling down reached a place very near to the hideout of the terrorists. A fierce gun battle followed immediately as the soldiers came face to face with the infiltrators. Seeing their comrades under heavy fire, the other two soldiers who had managed to evade the collapsing snow also rushed to the place of action. In the ensuing heavy exchange of fire, the para commandos managed to eliminate all the five terrorists.

However, it was a combat at very close quarters and consequently the soldiers too received multiple gunshots and got seriously injured. Three soldiers succumbed to their injuries and were martyred in the battle zone itself. The other two soldiers were airlifted to a nearby military hospital but they too succumbed to their grievous injuries and were martyred.

TOOK 15 Bullets before neutralising the terrorists

PARA TROOPER AMIT KUMAR

When the snow mass gave way under their weight, the troops found themselves face to face with the terrorists who were hiding in a frozen nallah. A close quarter fight ensued during which Paratrooper Amit took 15 bullet shots while Subedar Sanjiv and Paratrooper Chhatarpal were also gravely injured. Together they took down two terrorists. On the other hand, Havildar Davender and Paratrooper Balkishan stepped forward to rescue their wounded comrades and came under direct fire from the terrorists. They too managed to eliminate another two terrorists. The fifth terrorist who succeeded to flee the scene was later killed by troops from 8 JAT Regiment.

an officer has been quoted as saying, “As luck would have it, where they fell, the militants were sitting right there. This led to a firefight at virtually point blank range. I have to give it to the training standards of the SF guys. In spite of the fall, all five terrorists were killed. The complete squad was lost.”

The terrorists had infiltrated from across the LoC

The terrorists infiltrated across the LoC on April 1 from Qasim-II post in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and were headed to the Gulab Post of army, according senior Indian security agency officials. Five AK-47 rifles, grenades, and GPS and wireless sets were recovered from the encounter site at Shalbatoo, in the Jumgund area of the Keran sector in Kupwara in north Kashmir.

The three terrorists were identified as Sajjad Ahmad Hurrah, Aadil Hussain Mir and Umar Nazir Khan. Jammu & Kashmir Police records show that missing reports had been filed about Hurrah and Mir at local police stations.

PARA SF- Men apart, every man an emporer

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