Vijay Kumar, KC

Biography

Sowar Vijay Kumar was born in Uttaper village of Naina Devi tehsil in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh. He received his primary education at Khulwi village in Bilaspur and completed his secondary schooling at Bhakra. Like many young men of Himachal Pradesh, he was drawn to the armed forces from childhood, and in 2004, at the age of 17, he fulfilled his ambition by joining the Army. He was inducted into the 87 Armoured Regiment of the Armoured Corps. Later he was deployed with the 22 Rashtriya Rifles battalion engaged in counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir, and by 2018 had completed over 13 years of dedicated service. In August 2018, his unit was operating in the Doda district. On 2 August, acting on intelligence about the presence of militants at Darsu village in Bhaderwah tehsil, an operation was launched, with Vijay Kumar serving as scout for the assault team led by Major Varun Gaur. When militants opened heavy fire to break the cordon, he returned fire and pinned them down. As the search advanced, he moved into the open to draw fire and shield his comrades, killing one militant despite being wounded. Refusing evacuation, he crawled forward under covering fire and eliminated a second militant in close combat. Gravely injured, he succumbed to his wounds on 3 August 2018 at the age of 31. For his conspicuous courage and supreme sacrifice, he was awarded the Kirti Chakra.