Suresh V

Biography

Sapper Suresh V served with the 18 Engineering Regiment of the Corps of Engineers, one of the Indian Army's oldest arms, tracing its origins to the Madras Sappers raised in 1780. As combat engineers, his unit specialised in building bridges and tracks to give the Army mobility across difficult terrain. In 2005 his regiment was based at Chandimandir, Punjab. That June the Army was tasked with rebuilding four bridges — at Kharo, Khab, Leo and Akpa — that had been washed away when the Parechu lake flooded, severing vital road links that served as the lifeline of upper Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti. In September 2005, Suresh'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. After the first phase was completed successfully, the men were fixing wooden slabs onto the iron beams of the 80-tonne, 60-metre bridge when it suddenly collapsed from the centre, likely due to a technical fault, throwing most of the soldiers into the fast-flowing Sutlej. Sapper Suresh V laid down his life in the line of duty.