He was just days away from flying home to see his first child when he led his men in a bloody encounter with  intruding militants in Kashmir valley. A brave Major, Dinesh Raghu Raman, lost his life in the valiant act, but he had rescued a colleague caught in the firing line, then. The officer will be posthumously conferred the nation's highest peacetime award, the Ashok Chakra.

Braving heavy gunfire from LeT militants in Ringwari hamlet in Tangmarg in Baramulla district, the 34 Rashtriya Rifles officer led his men in the bloodiest gunfight in Kashmir valley last year in which nine terrorists were killed. Raman went headlong into terrorist firing line to rescue colleague Major K P Vinay, in the best traditions of the army.