Rajesh Kumar, SM

Biography

Naik Rajesh Kumar hailed from Rajrana village in the Sardulgarh tehsil of Mansa district, Punjab. After completing his schooling he enrolled in the Brigade of Guards and went on to serve with 3 Guards. He was later deputed to 21 Rashtriya Rifles for counter-insurgency duties in Jammu & Kashmir, where he became a trusted member of his commanding officer's team. On 2 May 2020, acting on intelligence that terrorists were holding civilians hostage in Chanjimulla hamlet of Handwara, Naik Rajesh Kumar moved in with the assault party led by Col Ashutosh Sharma and Maj Anuj Sood. During the fierce close-quarter exchange of fire that followed, the team neutralised two terrorists and extricated the civilians, but Naik Rajesh Kumar suffered fatal injuries in the engagement. For his courage, devotion to duty and supreme sacrifice, Naik Rajesh Kumar was posthumously awarded the Sena Medal (Gallantry) on 26 January 2021.