Captain Vikram Batra shows immense valor in Kargil war, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He sacrificed his life in a fierce hand-to-hand fight. He killed five enemy soldiers at point-blank range.
On July 7, 1999, in operation in the area Pt 4875, the officer lost his life in the field of enemy’s place while battling. For his bravery, he was rewarded with India’s highest and most prestigious award for valor, Param Vir Chakra (posthumous).
President K.R. Narayana awarded Param Vir Chakra to his father Girdhari Lal Batra on 15 August 1999.
The Param Vir Chakra citation reads as follows:
CITATION CAPTAIN VIKRAM BATRA
13 JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES (IC 57556)
During ‘Operation Vijay’, on 20 June 1999, Captain Vikram Batra, Commander Delta Company was tasked to attack Point 5140. Captain Batra with his company skirted around the feature from the East and maintaining surprise reached within assaulting distance of the enemy. Captain Batra reorganized his column and motivated his men to physically assault the enemy positions. Leading from the front, he in a daredevil assault, pounced on the enemy and killed four of them in a hand-to hand fight. On 7 July 1999, in another operation in the area Pt 4875, his company was tasked to clear a narrow feature with sharp cuttings on either side and heavily fortified enemy defences that covered the only approach to it. For speedy operation, Captain Batra assaulted the enemy position along a narrow ridge and engaged the enemy in a fierce hand –to-hand fight and killed five enemy soldiers at point blank range. Despite sustaining grave injuries, he crawled towards the enemy and hurled grenades clearing the position with utter disregard to his personal safety, leading from the front, he rallied his men and pressed on the attack and achieved a near impossible military task in the face of heavy enemy fire. The officer, however, succumbed to his injuries. Inspired by his daredevil act, his troops fell upon the enemy with vengeance, annihilated them, and captured Point 4875.
Captain Vikram Batra, thus, displayed the most conspicuous personal bravery and leadership of the highest order in the face of the enemy and made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army.
— Gazette of India Notification: No. 16 – Press/2000.
