The posterboy of the Kargil war of 1999, Captain Vikram Batra, laid down his life for his motherland on July 7 while fighting with Pakistani intruders. Captain Vikram Batra displayed exemplary bravery in the face of adversity due which he is an inspiration for gentlemen cadets and young officers of the Indian Army. For his bravery, Captain Batra was awarded Param Vir Chakra posthumously. Kargil Vijay Diwas 2019: Martyred Captain Vikram Batra's Father Requests Govt to Name Roads After Param Veer Chakra Awardees.

Captain Vikram Batra was born on September 9, 1974, in Himachal Pradesh’s Palampur to Girdhari Lal Batra and Kamal Kanta Batra. Captain Vikram Batra was 14 minutes elder to his twin brother Vishal. His father is a government school principal and mother Kamal Kanta Batra is a school teacher. He did his schooling from Palampur. Captain Batra also got the opportunity to participate in a Republic Day Parade as NCC cadet. He gave Combined Defence Services (CDS) examination, and in 1996, Captain Batra cleared the exam and joined the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun in Manekshaw Battalion. Shershaah: Sidharth Malhotra Starrer Biopic on Kargil Hero Captain Vikram Batra to Release in 2020.

During the Kargil War, Captain Batra’s battalion was given orders to move to Dras sector under the command of Lt. Col. Yogesh Kumar Joshi ( Now Lt Gen YK Joshi). During the war, the young officer had a code name – “Sher Shah”. Initially, the battalion was given orders to act as reserves to the 2nd battalion of the Rajputana Rifles which was given the task to re-capture Tololing mountain. Kargil Vijay Diwas 2019: Vishal Batra, Brother of Captain Vikram Batra, Climbs 16,000-Foot-High Mountain to Pay Tribute to Kargil War Hero.

After the capture of Tololing, the 13 JAK Rif was assigned the task to capture Point 5140 in the Dras sector. Captain Batra, who was Lieutenant at that time, was given the command of Delta company to capture Point 5140 from the southern side. After Accomplishing the mission, the young officer radioed his command post, his success signal “Yeh Dil Maange More”.

During the mission, Captain Batra got seriously injured. He killed three Pakistani intruders. After the capture of this feature, Batra was promoted from Lieutenant to Captain rank. Captain Batra’s battalion was then moved to Mushko valley and was assigned the task to capture Point 4875. On the night of July 6 and 7, Captain Batra, led the assault party to provide reinforcements to Indian soldiers who were at area flat top feature of Point 4875.

During the combat, Captain Batra displayed extraordinary bravery and destroyed the machine gun location of the enemy single handled. He was hit while evacuating his injured man to a safe location. He laid down his life for the motherland on July 7. Later, the Point 4875 was renamed as  “Batra Top”.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 07, 2020 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).