Kirti Chakra conferred on 3 Army personnel

Three personnel of the armed forces have been selected this year for the Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace time gallantry award, for their acts of bravery along the Line of Control (LoC), anti-Maoist operations and relief operations in flood-hit Uttarakhand, respectively.

The three are among 368 gallantry award winners this year, including 10 Shaurya Chakra awardees.

N Sub Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar of the 5/5 Gorkha Rifles has been awarded the Kirti Chakra for killing two terrorists, while foiling an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara.

IAF officer Wing Commander Darryll Castelino has been conferred the award for saving passengers and central armed forces personnel on June 23 last year, before his Mi-17V5 chopper crashed killing all 20 personnel on board. Constable Bhrigu Nandan Choudhary of the Central Reserve Police Force’s 205 Cobra Battalion has also been given the award posthumously for his role in foiling a Maoist attack in Bihar, where he prevented extremists from snatching weapons from his colleagues. Magar, a resident of Rupendehi district of Nepal, has been awarded the Kirti Chakra for displaying exceptional bravery and leadership beyond the call of duty, in successful counter-infiltration operations along the LoC.

On August 31 last year, Magar spotted the movement of six heavily armed terrorists and immediately sidestepped his position in a rugged and boulder-ridden terrain and closed in towards the terrorists, despite being under fire.

More than 20 officers of the Indian Air Force have been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for gallantry in performing humanitarian relief operations in flood-hit Uttarakhand.