Deepender Bhuchar, VrC

Biography

Major Deepender Bhuchar hailed from the Firozpur district of Punjab, the son of Shri R.C. Bhuchar and Smt. Usha Bhuchar. Drawn to a life in uniform from his younger days, like many young men of Punjab, he joined the Army after completing his education and was commissioned into 24 Punjab of the Punjab Regiment, an infantry regiment renowned for its intrepid soldiers and numerous battle and theatre honours. By August 1997, Major Bhuchar's unit was deployed in the Uri sector of Jammu & Kashmir, manning forward posts along the Line of Control under the operational control of 12 Infantry Brigade. The posts lay in high-altitude terrain with harsh weather, and the troops routinely faced unprovoked firing from across the border. Serving as Company Commander of Delta Company, Major Bhuchar was deployed on 'Nanak' post in the North Jhelum sub-sector on 23 August 1997. That morning, the enemy opened indiscriminate fire on 24 Punjab positions, and around 8:45 am a forward, isolated post came under intense mortar, artillery and heavy machine gun fire. Displaying exemplary courage, Major Bhuchar rushed along the crawl trench to the beleaguered post to direct retaliatory fire. Realising the situation demanded daring leadership, he personally manned a 106mm recoilless gun in the open, and together with Lance Naik Shamsher Singh destroyed an enemy bunker, killing two soldiers. Grievously wounded by splinters from an enemy mortar shell, he continued to man the gun and, with an 84mm rocket launcher, destroyed a second heavy machine gun bunker by a direct hit. Though semi-conscious from heavy loss of blood, he kept motivating his troops until his last breath. For his conspicuous gallantry and supreme sacrifice, Major Deepender Bhuchar was awarded the Vir Chakra, and the forward post was named "Buchar Post" in his honour.