Kamal Kalia, SC

Biography

Kamal Kalia was born on 5 January 1958 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1979 from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and posted to 4 Madras Battalion. Over his 14 years of service, he served with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka and later in counter-insurgency operations in Assam. On 9 April 1993, during Operation Rhino against ULFA militants in Assam, Major Kalia was pursuing a militant named Rantu Neog on the Moran-Dibrugarh road. While trailing the suspect vehicle, he was struck by an oncoming bus and made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. For his exceptional courage and devotion to duty, he was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra. A running trophy for 'Best Sportsman' was instituted in his name at the Madras Regimental Center, Wellington.