Kirti Chakras awarded to 5 bravehearts: Important facts about them

Delhi: CRPF commandants Chetan Kumar Cheetah and Pramod Kumar, along with three others, have been awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest gallantry award in peace time.

Kumar has been decorated with the medal posthumously.

Major David Manlun and Havildar Giris Gurung have also been awarded the medal posthumously.

The fifth Kirti Chakra has been given to Major Preetam Singh Kunwar.

Also, a total of 990 personnel have been awarded Police Medals on the 71st Independence Day, with Chhattisgarh's elite Special Task Force Platoon Commander Shankar Rao posthumously named for the President's Police Medal for Gallantry.

Of the 990 personnel, 190 get the Police Medal for Gallantry, 93 will receive President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 706 the Police Medal for Meritorious Service. 

Following are some important facts about the Kirti Chakra awardees:

Cheetah was wounded during a joint operation in the Hajin area of Bandipora district in North Kashmir on February 14 this year. He survived after nine bullet injuries and staying comatose for over a month.

Cheetah was admitted to the AIIMS trauma centre. The 45-year-old suffered injuries to his head, upper limbs, waist, and pelvic region, hands and right eye. He had also suffered a “maxillofacial” injury, as per doctors.

Cheetah was commanding the 45th Battalion of the force in the Kashmir valley.

CRPF Commandant Pramod Kumar was killed in an encounter soon after unfurling the flag at CRPF Srinagar office on August 15th last year. He was in-charge of the CRPF’s 49th battalion. 

Earlier, he was given DG’s commendation disc in 2015 and then commendation certificate in 2014. 

He is survived by his wife, a 6-year-old daughter and 63-year-old father, who live in West Bengal. 

Major Manlun belonged to the 164 Brigade of the Territorial Army. He was killed during an encounter at remote Lappa, close to the Myanmar border. Manlun was an alumnus of St Anthony's School and College, Shillong.

He used used to command an NCC unit and grew up in the Happy Valley-Madanrting area of the city and had cleared the combined Defence Service examination. He added that Major David completed his training from the Officers' Training Academy in Chennai.

David was commissioned in the year 2010 and his first unit was the Naga Regiment. His funeral will be held at the Assam Regimental Centre cemetery here on Wednesday. On the other hand, people were seen lined up on the streets as the Army carried the cortege of the martyr to his home in the city.

Havildar Giris Gurung was martyred during a counter infiltration operation along the LoC in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir on May 20. He along with others had fought a group of armed militants in a two-day operation, which lasted nearly 48 hours. Four militants were killed in the operation.

Gurung was 38 and hailed from Kaski in Nepal. He served the Army for 19 years and is survived by his wife Panch Maya Gurung and two children.

He was cremated with full military honours at Subathu in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. 

Major Preetam Singh Kunwar, 35, is of the fourth battalion of the Garhwal Rifle. He has been awarded for fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Garhwal Rifles is one of the most decorated infantry regiments of the Indian Army and was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. Later it had became part of the British Indian Army. It was incorporated into the Indian Army after Independence.

#IndianArmy honours its heroes by awarding Kirti Chakra #BraveSonsOfIndia pic.twitter.com/lclqitfbNy — ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) August 14, 2017

Third Highest Peacetime Gallantry Award #ShauryaChakra to Assistant Commandant Chandan Kumar & Constable Amar Nath Mishra. #IndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/ZhY9n9Wz8i — CRPF (@crpfindia) August 14, 2017