Soldier who died fighting intruders in Kashmir gets Ashok Chakra

A soldier who died in May while killing four suspected armed intruders in north Kashmir won India’s top peace-time army award as the government announced gallantry medals for more than 1,000 personnel on the eve of Independence Day.

Army Havildar Hangpan Dada – a resident of Arunachal Pradesh — was posthumously honoured with the Ashok Chakra while National Security Guard lieutenant colonel Niranjan EK was posthumously awarded the Shaura Chakra, the country’s third-highest peace-time army award.

Niranjan EK was head of the NSG’s bomb disposal unit that was rushed to the Pathankot airbase after a militant strike on January 2 but died when a hand grenade strapped to a terrorist’s body explored.

In all, the government announced one Ashok Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, 63 Sena Medals, two Nau Sena Medals and two Vayu Sena Medals.

 Hangpan Dada, #AshokChakra, loved snakes, kept them as pets. On May 26, he killed 3 terrorists in Kupwara @htTweets pic.twitter.com/tjcc994ZTH

— Rahul Singh (@rahulsinghx) August 14, 2016

 Three of the seven President’s police medal (PPMG) for gallantry went to Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP) personnel – Subhash Chandra, Virender Singh and Sunil Bisht — for thwarting attacks at Indian Consulates at Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad in Afghanistan early this year.

 

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