Praveen Kumar

Biography

Havaldar Praveen Kumar hailed from Reddivaripalle village in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The son of Shri Chikala Prathap Reddy and Smt Sugunamma, he joined the Army in 2002 at the age of 19. He was recruited into 18 Madras of the Madras Regiment, an infantry regiment renowned for its dauntless soldiers and numerous battle exploits. After serving with his parent unit for some time, he trained as a commando and served with the elite NSG for three years. By 2020 he had completed around 18 years of service, rising to the rank of Havaldar, and had gained substantial experience of operating in challenging conditions. He was remembered as a tough soldier, a fine human being, and a source of inspiration to the younger generation of his village. In November 2020, his unit was deployed in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir close to the Line of Control, engaged in regular counter-insurgency operations in an area prone to infiltration. Besides manning forward posts in the Machil sector, the unit undertook operations to check infiltration bids. On 8 November 2020, a BSF patrol reported such a bid at around 0100 hrs near the anti-infiltration obstacle system, about 3.5 km from the Line of Control. Soldiers from 18 Madras, in a team led by Captain Ashutosh Kumar, were rushed to foil the infiltration. Contact with the militants was lost around 0400 hrs but re-established near 1020 hrs through surveillance. In the ensuing fierce gun battle three militants were eliminated, but Havaldar Praveen Kumar and four comrades received gunshot wounds. He later succumbed to his injuries, laying down his life in the line of duty at the age of 37.