Suresh Chand Yadav, AC

Biography

Subedar Suresh Chand Yadav hailed from Khetan Khera village in the Alwar district of Rajasthan and was born on 1 June 1961 to Shri Gokul Ram Yadav and Smt Dodi Devi. Drawn to military life from his early years, like many young men of Rajasthan, he pursued his childhood dream with determination after completing his schooling. In 1978, at the age of seventeen, he was recruited into the 13 Mahar battalion of the Mahar Regiment, an infantry regiment renowned for its gallant soldiers and battle honours. After his training, Subedar Yadav served in various operational areas and matured into a fine soldier with admirable leadership skills. By 2000 he had risen to the rank of Subedar with considerable field experience. In 2001 he was selected for the National Security Guard and, on completing his training, was assigned to the 51 Special Action Group (51 SAG), the elite counter-terrorism arm of the force. On 24 September 2002, two armed terrorists attacked the Akshardham Swaminarayan Temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, killing 30 people and injuring over 100. In the ensuing Operation Vajra Shakti, 51 SAG commandos were flown in, and Subedar Yadav formed part of the task force. He led a group of commandos to distract the terrorists while covering others, and under heavy fire moved forward to evacuate a wounded comrade. Realising his Team Commander was pinned down, he crawled ahead to provide covering fire and then lobbed grenades and fired at the terrorists, drawing their fire onto himself so the rest of the team could close in. When less than five metres from a terrorist, he took a burst of fire directly to his face. Despite bleeding profusely, he pressed forward and killed the attacker at close quarters before succumbing to his injuries. For his exceptional bravery, leadership and supreme sacrifice, Subedar Suresh Chand Yadav was awarded the nation's highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra.