Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay, KC

Biography

Major Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in 1999 after training at the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He served with 37 Medium Regiment and participated in the Kargil War. Later posted to 34 Rashtriya Rifles in the Kashmir Valley, he conducted numerous successful counter-insurgency operations. On October 2, 2007, during a 36-hour operation in the Tanmarg area of Baramulla district, Major Vinay led his troops against a group of militants. Despite sustaining fatal gunshot wounds to his head and chest, he continued to lead the operation, which resulted in the elimination of nine terrorists. He made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Major Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra, India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award, for his extraordinary courage and leadership.