Mayekar Narendra Atmaram, KC

Biography

Lieutenant Mayekar Narendra Atmaram hailed from Headland Sada, Vasco da Gama, Goa. Commissioned into the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), he was attached to the 11th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment deployed in Assam as part of Operation Rhino, a counter-insurgency campaign against ULFA militants. On February 26, 2000, acting on credible intelligence about hardcore ULFA militants hiding in Bagariguri village, Nagaon district, Lieutenant Mayekar led a search operation. As he approached the target house at approximately 2230 hours, militants opened heavy fire and he was grievously wounded in the abdomen. Despite bleeding profusely, he charged into the house with his men, engaging the militants in fierce hand-to-hand combat and personally eliminating two terrorists. His gallant and spontaneous leadership motivated his troops to neutralise the remaining militants, resulting in the elimination of three hardcore ULFA terrorists and the recovery of arms, ammunition, and incriminating documents. He refused evacuation until the operation was successfully completed, and later succumbed to his injuries. For his exceptional courage and supreme sacrifice, Lieutenant Mayekar was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra, India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award. A statue in his honour stands at Sada Junction, Mormugao, Goa.