ARMY OFFICER WHOSE UNIT WAS NAMED FOR CIVILIAN DEATHS GETS GALLANTRY AWARD
Major Aditya Kumar, at the centre of a controversy following the death of three Kashmiri civilians in Army firing in January, and Rifleman Aurangzeb, gunned down by militants while he was on his way to celebrate Eid with his family, were on Tuesday named for the third highest peacetime gallantry award.
Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh, who was killed in November last year in a shootout with militants, has been given Kirti Chakra - the second highest peacetime gallantry.
Major Aditya Kumar and Rifleman Aurangzeb (posthumous) were both honoured with the Shaurya Chakra – an
Indian military decoration awarded for valour and selfsacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It is third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards after Ashoka Chakra and Kirti Chakra.
The Major hogged the headlines when his unit allegedly opened fire at a stonepelting mob in Shopian district on January 27. Three people were killed.
Jammu and Kashmir Light
Infantry's Rifleman Aurangzeb, a known anti-terror face in the state, was kidnapped and killed by militants on June 14 when he was on his way to his home to celebrate Eid with his family in Poonch in Jammu division.
The soldier was believed to have been instrumental in many anti-terror operations including the one that led to the killing of dreaded Hizb commander Sameer Tiger.
He was on a Hizb hit list along with his company commander Major Rohit Shukla, who sustained a nonfatal bullet injury in the April 29 operation in Drubgam village of Pulwama in south Kashmir.
The Kirti Chakra awardee Vrahma Pal Singh of the Rajput Regiment was posted with 44 Rashtriya Rifles. On November 6, 2017, the Army launched an anti-militancy operation in Pulwama. Three militants, including a top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander and nephew of its Pakistan-basedchief Moulana Masood Azhar, were killed.
The three soldiers are among the 131 bravehearts approved for 131 gallantry awards by President Ram Nath Kovind, reports IANS.