Three personnel of the armed forces have been selected this year for the Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace time gallantry award, for their acts of bravery on the Line of Control (LoC), anti-maoist operation and relief operation in flood-hit Uttarakhand, respectively.
The three are among 368 gallantry award winners this year including 10 Shaurya Chakra awardees.
N Sub Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar of the 5/5 Gorkha Rifles has been awarded the Kirti Chakra for killing two terrorists while foiling an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara.
IAF officer Wing Commander Darryll Castelino has been conferred the award for saving passengers and central armed forces personnel on June 23 last year before his Mi-17V5 chopper crashed killing all 20 personnel on board.
Constable Bhrigu Nandan Choudhary of CRPF's 205 Cobra Battalion is also given the award posthumously for his role in foiling a naxal attack in Bihar where he prevented the Left wing extremists from snatching the weapons of his colleagues in the patrolling party.
Magar, a resident of Rupendehi district of Nepal, has been awarded the Kirti Chakra for displaying exceptional bravery and leadership beyond the call of duty, in successful counter infiltration operations along the LoC.
On August 31 last year, Magar spotted movement of six heavily armed terrorists and immediately side-stepped his position in rugged and boulders-ridden terrain and closed in towards the terrorists, despite being under fire.
"The gallant soldier displaying nerves of steel, fired a
long burst, killing one terrorist. Displaying raw courage, he pursued the second terrorist and injured him. While the injured terrorist was hiding behind a boulder, the Gurkha soldier unmindful of his personal safety, charged towards the terrorist and killed him," his citation reads.
