Assam Rifles Honour its Brave of the Most Successful Operation in J&K

The staging camp was established on May 4, 1991, and the track towards Dudhi was cleared the same day. The next day, a column of one Junior Commissioned Officer and 14 other ranks began moving towards Dudhi Post. When they were, just one kilometre from the Post, things took a deadly turn. Militants had infiltrated into Indian Territory after crossing the 14,000-foot-high Eagle Pass. They fired at the column, which then conducted a recce and discovered more than 100 militants camping in the area west of the track leading to Dudhi Post.

Despite being greatly outnumbered, troops of the 7th Battalion were unfazed. On the contrary it only firmed their resolve to eliminate the militants. Equipped with only 7.62 mm self-loading Rifles and a Light Machine Gun, the brave soldiers used tact to surround the enemy who were armed with sophisticated weapons. They then brought down heavy fire on the militants.

The battle lasted for more than six exhausting hours until reinforcements arrived in the form of three columns consisting of one Junior Commissioned Officer and 25 other ranks under Maj A Nigam; one Junior Commissioned Officer and 35 other ranks led by Maj BS Kular; and Maj B Bhattacharjee (RMO) with a medical team.

Maj A Nigam’s column was fired upon near Bari Baihk, but undeterred, it fought through and reached the site of the first encounter. In the fierce fire fight that continued till late at night on May 5/6, two brave hearts Rfn/GD Kameshwer Prasad and Rfn/GD Ram Kumar Arya laid down their lives. One other rank, No. G/75266 Rfn/GD RK Yadav,sustained injuries.

The next 96 hours were used to carry out search operations and sanitization of the general area. A huge cache of an assortment of weapons and ammunition were recovered.

The subsequent 96 hrs were utilised for carrying out Search Operation & sanitization of the Area. Summary of the operation is as under:-

(a)       ANEs Killed                                       –           72

(b)       Apprehended                                    –           13

(c)        Rif AK –47                                         –           78 Nos

(d)       UMG                                                   –           07 Nos

(e)       RL                                                       –           04 Nos

(f)        Revolver/Pistol                                 –           13 Nos

(g)       Mag AK – 47                                     –           114 Nos

(h)       Pistol                                                  –           05 Nos

(j)         Mag Pistol                                         –           11 Nos

(k)        Gren Stick                                         –           04 Nos

(l)         Booster RL                                        –           11 Nos

(m)      Drum Mag                                         –           10 Nos

(n)       Amn AK – 47                                    –           8100 Rds

(o)       Amn Pistol                                         –           112 Rds

(p)       Belted Amn                                       –           1090 Rds

(q)       Sight Unit RL                                    –           02 Nos

The 7th Battalion was conferred numerous honours and awards during Operation Rakshak in Jammu & Kashmir. These included two Kirti Chakras, one Shaurya Chakra, one Vishisht Seva Medal, 10 Sena Medals, one President Police Medal for Distinguished Service, three Governor’s Gold Medal, 12 Governor’s Silver Medal, four COAS Commendation Cards, 41 DGAR Commendation Cards, 23 GOC-in-C Northern Comd Commendation Cards, Chief of Army Staff Unit Citation, and Silver Salver from the Governor J & K.