Puneet Nath Datt, AC

Biography

Second Lieutenant Puneet Nath Datt was born on 29 April 1973 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, into a family with a strong tradition of service. His father, Major Pramod Nath Datt, had served in 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, which inspired Puneet to join the same regiment. Known to his friends as 'Dicky', he had a brilliant academic record and excelled at football and rowing, studying at schools in Darjeeling, Dehradun and Jaipur before entering the NDA in December 1991. At the Academy he rose to become Cadet Sergeant Major of his squadron, winning the Cross Country Shield and three gold medals in rowing. After commissioning, he completed the Young Officers, Commando and Fire Fighting courses within eighteen months. In 1997 his unit was deployed in Jammu & Kashmir on counter-insurgency operations. On 19 July 1997, acting on intelligence about foreign militants hiding in a three-storey building near Naushera, he led a search-and-destroy operation. After a three-hour gunfight, he boldly scaled the compound wall, shot one fleeing militant, and hurled grenades at the last surviving terrorist, killing him even as he himself was fatally wounded. He was awarded the Ashoka Chakra for his conspicuous bravery and supreme sacrifice.