Sameer Katwal

Biography

Major Sameer Katwal was born on 25 July 1974 in Rawra village, Sandhol tehsil, Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. He completed his schooling in Tiruchirappalli and Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Drawn to the armed forces from an early age, he cleared the examination for the National Defence Academy after his twelfth standard, joining NDA Khadakwasla in 1991 and passing out in 1994. He then trained at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 10 June 1995 at the age of 21, into the 21 Kumaon battalion of the Kumaon Regiment. By 1999 he had honed his field craft and risen to the rank of Major. In August 1999, his unit was deployed in Assam on counter-insurgency operations. Acting on intelligence, security forces planned a strike on a Dima Halong Doga (DHD) militant camp in the North Cachar Hills district. Tasked with leading the operation, Major Katwal set out on foot on 28 August 1999 with 40 soldiers across rugged terrain, achieving complete surprise. Leading a coordinated assault from the front, he personally killed two militants before a fleeing insurgent's AK-47 burst struck his right collarbone and neck, gravely wounding him. He succumbed to his injuries, laying down his life for the nation.