Shubham Suryakant Mustapure

Biography

Sepoy Shubham Suryakant Mustapure was born on 22 July 1997 in Konarwadi village of Parbhani district, Maharashtra. He completed his early schooling at Yashwant Vidyalaya in Ahmedpur and later at Swami Vivekananda school. Drawn to the armed forces from childhood, he pursued his ambition steadily and joined the Indian Army on 22 September 2016 at the age of nineteen. He was inducted into the 4 Maratha Light Infantry of the celebrated Maratha Light Infantry Regiment, a unit renowned for its courageous soldiers and numerous battle and theatre honours. In 2018 his unit was deployed along the Line of Control in the Krishna Ghati Sector of Poonch district, Jammu & Kashmir, a stretch frequently marked by ceasefire violations. On 3 April 2018, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and unleashed unprovoked and indiscriminate firing on Indian Army posts from around 7 a.m., using small arms, automatic weapons and mortar shells. The Indian Army responded firmly and the exchange continued for several hours. During the intense shelling, Sepoy Mustapure was gravely wounded along with four other soldiers. He was rushed to a nearby army hospital but succumbed to his injuries, laying down his life at the age of twenty-one.