Army today paid rich tributes to Lieutenant Triveni Singh, Ashok Chakra, who was martyred while fighting a group of militants at Jammu railway station on January 2, 2004 and saved hundreds of helpless passengers.
"Martyrs never die... Lieutenant Triveni Singh, Ashok Chakra, is one such martyr. In a rare act of courage he killed two heavily armed militants at the Jammu railway station on January 2, 2004 and saved hundreds of helpless passengers at the platform before he succumbed to his injuries," Jammu based defense spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said.
"The Army and the entire nation pays its tribute to the martyr," he said, adding that such was the zeal of the officer that despite being seriously injured he saluted his General Officer Commanding and said, "Mission accomplished sir".
Lt Singh was posthumously awarded Ashok Chkara, the highest peacetime gallantry award of the country for displaying conspicuous gallantry, utmost courage and for making the super sacrifice in the highest tradition of the Army to save human lives.
Hailing from Pathankot in Punjab, he was commissioned in the elite unit of 5 Jammu and Kashmir Light infantry on December 8, 2001, he said.
"In the evening of January 2, 2004, Lieutenant Triveni Singh got to know about the fidayeen attack on the Jammu railway station while watching a TV news bulletin. On being ordered to challenge the militants, he rushed to the Jammu railway station with five commandos," Mehta said.
He said in a swift action he killed the first militant and followed the other who was firing from the overhead rail bridge.
Lt Singh knew that the hidden militant was equipped with lethal weapons and could kill over 300 passengers who had taken refuge in the parcel room only a short distance away.
"At that moment his deputy Havildar Fazal Hussain, was at the militant's target too. In a gallant action, Lieutenant Singh grabbed that militant and killed him but got fatally injured in the act," he said.
