Dharajit Singh Chahar, VrC

Biography

Sepoy Dharajit Singh Chahar hailed from Nagla Hira Singh village in Kiraoli tehsil of Agra district in Uttar Pradesh, where he was born on 15 September 1965. After completing his school education, he joined the Army on 13 January 1985 at the age of twenty. He was recruited into the 4 Jat Battalion of the famed Jat Regiment, a unit renowned for its fearless soldiers and numerous battle exploits. Very early in his service career he was drawn into active operations, as his battalion was deployed to Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Under Operation Pawan, launched to disarm militant groups and neutralise the operational capability of the LTTE in and around Jaffna, Indian forces conducted a series of demanding combat operations. By January 1989 the campaign was far from over. Acting on intelligence, Sepoy Chahar and his team were tasked to carry out a search-and-neutralise operation against suspected LTTE militants on 13 January 1989. His party laid an ambush at a road crossing on the Vavuniya–Mannar road. At about 0850 hours, Sepoy Chahar spotted a group of militants approaching from an unexpected direction through thick jungle. He alerted the ambush group and opened fire when the militants were barely ten metres away. During the exchange of fire, his comrade Sepoy Sree Chand was wounded, and a militant rushed forward to snatch the wounded soldier's rifle. In total disregard for his own safety, Sepoy Chahar charged at the militant, fired at his stomach, engaged him in hand-to-hand close combat and killed him. Another militant, sensing the danger from this daredevil act, fired a fatal burst that took his life. For his conspicuous courage, indomitable spirit and supreme sacrifice, Sepoy Dharajit Singh Chahar was awarded the Vir Chakra on 26 January 1990.