Brijesh Thapa, SM

Biography

Captain Brijesh Thapa hailed from Bagdogra in the Siliguri area of Darjeeling district, West Bengal, and was born on 15 January 1997. He came from a proud military family and was a third-generation officer, his grandfather and father having both served in the Army. His father, Colonel Bhuwanesh Thapa, served with the 11 Garhwal Rifles, and from childhood Brijesh nurtured the ambition to follow in his footsteps. After completing a degree in engineering in Mumbai, he cleared the Combined Defence Services Examination and joined the Officers' Training Academy, Chennai, passing out in September 2019 at the age of 22. He was commissioned into the 145 AD Regiment of the Corps of Army Air Defence. Over the following years he earned the praise of his superiors for his bravery, initiative and leadership. In September 2023 he was deputed to the 10 Rashtriya Rifles battalion deployed in Jammu & Kashmir for counter-insurgency duties, operating in the Doda district under the Counter Insurgency Force (Delta Force) within the White Knight Corps. On 15 July 2024, acting on intelligence about hardcore terrorists in the unit's area, a joint cordon and search operation was launched with the J&K Police Special Operations Group in the Dhari Gote Urarbagi area of the thickly forested Desa belt, some 55 km from Doda town. Leading his men from the front, Captain Thapa made contact with the terrorists and moved aggressively to tighten the cordon and block their escape. In the fierce firefight, waged amid rain, restricted visibility and dense forest, he and three of his soldiers were severely wounded and later succumbed. At just 27, Captain Brijesh Thapa laid down his life in the service of the nation, and for his exceptional courage and devotion to duty he was posthumously awarded the Sena Medal.