J Suresh Kumar

Biography

Sapper J Suresh Kumar served with the 18 Engineering Regiment of the Corps of Engineers, one of the oldest components of the Indian Army, whose combat engineers specialise in providing mobility to troops by building bridges, tracks and helipads. His unit was renowned for its expertise in constructing bridges and tracks, and was well equipped in both manpower and material. In 2005, while posted at Chandimandir in Punjab, his regiment was tasked with rebuilding four bridges — at Kharo, Khab, Leo and Akpa — that had been washed away in the floods caused by the Parechu Lake. These bridges were vital lifelines connecting the upper Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti regions of Himachal Pradesh. In September 2005, Sapper Suresh Kumar's team was assigned to rebuild the bridge at Kharo on National Highway 22, the Hindustan-Tibet Road. On 8 September 2005, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Amardeep Singh, he and forty other soldiers began the operation. While the men were laying wooden slabs over the iron beams of the 60-metre bridge, it suddenly collapsed at the centre, likely due to a technical fault, plunging most of the soldiers into the swift Sutlej. A brave and devoted soldier, Sapper J Suresh Kumar laid down his life in the line of duty.