Vivek Gupta, MVC

Biography

Major Vivek Gupta hailed from Dehradun in Uttarakhand and was commissioned into 2 Rajputana Rifles. During Operation Vijay in the summer of 1999, the 56 Mountain Brigade was tasked with recapturing the dominating heights of Tololing in the Drass sector, which Pakistani intruders had occupied to threaten the vital Srinagar-Leh highway. The plan called for 2 Rajputana Rifles to assault Tololing Top while 18 Grenadiers provided a firm base. When the battalion launched its assault on Tololing Top at 2030 hours on 12 June 1999, Major Gupta commanded the leading 'Charlie' Company. Under his inspiring leadership the company advanced through withering artillery and automatic fire and closed in on the enemy. Though wounded, he charged the hostile positions, and was hit again by enemy fire, laying down his life on the battlefield. By a poignant coincidence he fell on the very day he had been commissioned into the Rajputana Rifles seven years earlier. For his conspicuous gallantry and leadership in the capture of Tololing - the first major Indian victory of the Kargil War - Major Vivek Gupta was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (Posthumous).