Chitresh Bisht, SM

Biography

Major Chitresh Bisht was born on 1 December 1987 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Son of Shri S.S. Bisht, a retired Police Inspector, and Smt Rekha Bisht, he was fondly called "Tiger" by his friends and fellow officers. He joined the Indian Army through the Technical Entry Scheme (TES) in 2006 and pursued engineering at the College of Military Engineering (CME), Pune. He was commissioned on 12 June 2010 from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, and inducted into the 55 Engineering Regiment, Corps of Engineers. By 2019, Major Chitresh was serving as a Bomb Disposal Squad Leader in the Naushera sector of Rajouri district, Jammu & Kashmir. On 16 February 2019, mines were detected on a track in the Laam area. Major Bisht led his squad to sanitize the area and successfully defused one mine. With utter disregard for his own safety, he proceeded to neutralize a second device. While attempting to deactivate it, the mine got triggered. Facing the brunt of the blast, Major Bisht absorbed most of the splinters, shielding his comrades behind him. He succumbed to his injuries and was martyred at the age of 31. Major Bisht was to be married on 7 March 2019 — just three weeks after his martyrdom. His father had already begun distributing wedding cards when the news arrived. For his extraordinary courage, indomitable spirit, and supreme sacrifice, Major Chitresh Bisht was posthumously awarded the Sena Medal (Gallantry).