Rishi Kumar

Biography

Lieutenant Rishi Kumar hailed from Begusarai district of Bihar and was born in 1998, the son of Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Smt Sarita Devi. Drawn to the armed forces from his younger days, he followed an elder sister who had also been commissioned as an officer and was serving as a Major. He pursued his dream with determination, and after completing his engineering he was selected for the army. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in December 2020 at the age of 22 years and, as his first assignment, was posted to the 17 Sikh Light Infantry battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, a well-known infantry unit. During 2021, 17 Sikh LI was deployed in the Naushera sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, manning forward posts along the Line of Control. The area was volatile and prone to infiltration, requiring strict vigil and regular armed patrols. Landmines along the patrol routes posed a constant threat, and the unit's Bomb Disposal Squad was frequently called upon to sanitize them. On 30 October 2021, Lt Rishi Kumar was tasked to lead an area domination patrol in the unit's area of responsibility. As Lt Rishi Kumar and his comrades traversed the challenging terrain along the planned route, a massive mine blast occurred around 6 pm. The explosion severely injured three soldiers. Lt Rishi Kumar faced the brunt of the blast and absorbed most of the splinters, thereby shielding the comrades behind him. He and one of his soldiers, Sepoy Manjit Singh, later succumbed to their injuries. Devoted to the higher cause of serving the motherland, Lt Rishi Kumar laid down his life at the age of 23 years.