During his posting in Sopore, Batra had several encounters with militants. In one of those encounters when Batra was leading an ambush with his platoon into an area of dense forest, he had a miraculous escape when a bullet fired by a militant grazed his shoulder and struck one of Batra's men behind him, killing the soldier. Batra proceeded to order his men to nab the militants, and by morning all of the militants had been killed. Batra, however, was saddened, because he knew that the bullet was meant for him. "Didi, it was meant for me and I lost my man," he had told his elder sister over the phone.
Every time when he came home to Palampur on leave, he would visit the Neugal Cafe. Batra last came home on leave from the army in 1999, during the Holi festival for a few days. During that time, when he went to the café for a coffee, he met his best friend and later on fiancee Dimple Cheema who told him to be careful in the war, to which Batra replied:
I'll either come back after raising the Indian flag in victory or return wrapped in it. But I'll come back for sure.
After his leave, he returned to join his battalion in Sopore.13 JAK RIF, after completing its counter-insurgency tenure in Kashmir under 192 Mountain Brigade of 8 Mountain Division, received orders to proceed to Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The battalion's advance party under Maj. Yogesh Kumar Joshi had reached its destination, when on 5 June, because of the outbreak of the Kargil War, its deployment orders were changed and the battalion received orders to move to Dras, Jammu and Kashmir.
Batra informed his parents about his movement and assured them that they need not worry about him. He would call his parents at least once in ten days.The last phone call he made was on 29 June 1999, in which he said "Mommy, ek dum fit hoon, fikar mat karna", ("I'm absolutely fine. Don't you worry.") This was the last time that Batra spoke to his mother.
Beginning his service as a lieutenant, he rose to the rank of Captain.
On the night of 6–7 July, the opposing forces were so close that besides exchanges of small arms fire, verbal exchanges continued throughout the night.It was at this stage that it became imperative for Indian troops to destroy this Pakistani post, located north of Point 4875, from where enemy fire was coming as otherwise the situation could get worse. At this juncture, the Indian troops detected an enemy presence on a long and narrow ledge, running north from Point 4875. On the ledge, the enemy were holding strong sangars echeloned one behind the other.Batra, who was still recovering from his own wounds he received in the battle of Point 5140, wanted to reach the top to rescue his fellow soldiers and carry out reconnaissance of the ledge where the enemy soldiers were."The problem was that the Indian soldiers were caught unawares about the presence of the enemy soldiers on the ledge ahead of Twin Bump. They went ahead into the enemy lines and destroyed their bunkers on Peak 4875 but the firing from the ledge pinned them down," Joshi said. Even though it was pitch dark when they had left at night, when they neared the top where the soldiers had to climb vertically, visibility was almost zero because of fog. Even worse, it began snowing as they advanced. En route to the top, Batra spotted a Pakistani machine gun position firing at the trapped Indian soldiers. Crouching, he moved toward the machine gun position, hiding behind rocks whenever possible. As he reached close to the enemy's machine gun position he lobbed a grenade, destroying the machine gun position."Follow me, boys," he whispered in the dark, and they advanced to the next position.At 16,087 feet, even though they were struggling for breath and panting, this did not stop them and they kept advancing non-stop.Before first light on 7 July, the troops succeeded in knocking out two more enemy machine guns, however, firing from the ledge continued. Batra's platoon soon reached the ledge, though by this time it was broad daylight.
At 0530 hours Joshi spoke to Batra and asked him to recce the area.Batra, accompanied by Sub. Raghunath Singh and Maj. Bhat, his artillery observation officer, took out a patrol to recce a route to reinforce Nagappa from a flank. Batra located the position of the enemy sangar on the ledge from which enemy machine guns were holding up the advance of his company.At this juncture, Batra, realising that there was no way from the left or right, decided to make a direct daylight frontal assault.At great personal risk and under heavy fire from enemy machine guns and grenade launchers, Batra moved forward, screaming the battle cry of his regiment, Durga mata ki jai, and charged the sangar firing incessantly from his AK-47.He sustained grievous injuries in the process, yet he continued his charge, with supporting fire from the rest of the patrol, and reached the very narrow entrance of the sangar. Taking the enemy by complete surprise, he killed 5 Pakistani soldiers in a close combat."There was a time he grappled with a Pakistani soldier, punching him in the nose. As soon as he fell, Batra plunged his bayonet into the fallen soldier's stomach. But another enemy soldier caught him from behind. He, too, was done to death after being thrown off the back by Batra, the ferocious. All hell broke loose. It was utter chaos," a JAK RIF soldier, who accompanied him in the attack, said.The attack resulted in the deaths of seven Pakistani soldiers and the Indians gained a foothold on the ledge.Taken by surprise by this ferocious attack, the Pakistanis started retreating. Batra and his men had gained the upper hand.However, there was still an enemy machine gun nest in action on that ledge that had to be silenced. Four Pakistani soldiers including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), who was guiding the fire on the Indian soldiers fighting outside, were manning the machine gun nest. An enraged Batra quickly charged forward alone, killing all four members of the crew.
Suddenly, Batra realized that one of his men had been shot. Turning toward Sub. Raghunath Singh, who was positioned behind a nearby boulder, maintaining an iron grip on his AK-47, Batra shouted above the din of flying bullets: "Aap aur main usko evacuate karenge," (We will evacuate him, you and I). With bullets flying around him, he pushed Singh toward the safer side and placed himself between Singh and the enemy, saying: "You have a family and children to go back to, I'm not even married. Main sar ki taraf rahunga aur aap paanv uthayenge" (I will take the head and you take his feet).Batra courageously exposed himself to enemy fire to drag the injured soldier to safety, and in the process was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper from very close range and a split-second later, by a splinter from an RPG which hit him in the head.Batra collapsed next to the injured soldier, succumbing to his fatal wounds.
In his book Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle, Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo states
Captain Vikram Batra, always leading from the front, and fully aware of the great danger of his mission, displayed unparalleled courage and determination in eliminating a Pakistani position at a ledge because he was aware of the importance of his task. His daring assault enabled the completion of the capture of Pt 4875 and this broke the will of the enemy. His courage and action were well beyond the call of duty and he continued to take risks, ultimately making the supreme sacrifice in the finest traditions of the Indian Army.
Vikram Batra was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor on 15 August 1999, the 52nd anniversary of India's independence. His father G.L. Batra received the honor for his deceased son from the President of India, the late K. R. Narayanan.
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
Vikram sir will always remain immortal in our hearts he became a source of motivation for the whole couple the nation will never forget him he will always be remembered.
YE DIL MAANGE MORE.
An exclusive content by Dnc Defence News channel. Happy birthday sir.
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