SRINAGAR: On the 72nd Independence Day, Rifleman Aurangzeb, gunned down by militants while he was on his way to celebrate Eid, was awarded. for the third highest peacetime gallantry award.
Aurangzeb (posthumous) was honoured with the prestigious Shaurya Chakra — an Indian military decoration awarded for valour and self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It is third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards after Ashoka Chakra and Kirti Chakra.
Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry’s Rifleman Aurangzeb, a known anti-terror face in the state, was abducted from Pulwama in broad daylight when he was proceeding towards his home his home to celebrate Eid with his family in Poonch in Jammu division. After his abduction, the Jammu and Kashmir police had launched a massive manhunt. The deceased Army man bullet-ridden body was recovered on June 14 this year.
Aurangzeb was posted in a militant hotbed of south Kashmir district of Shopian with 44 Rashtriya Rifles. The 24-year-old had joined the Indian Army in 2012. He is survived by his wife, parents and three brothers.
Following Aurangzeb’s demise, his family had made an emotional appeal to the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government to eliminate militancy from the state.
After the government announced the prestigious Shaurya Chakra, mother of slain rifleman said that she is happy that her son is being conferred with the gong but sad that he is no longer with the family.
Speaking to reporters here, the mother said, “I am happy and thankful that he (Aurangzeb) is getting the Shaurya Chakra but I am sad that he is no longer there with us. His death has shattered me”.
The soldier was believed to have been instrumental in many anti-terror operations including the one that led to the killing of dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sameer Tiger.
He was on a Hizb hit list along with his company commander Major Rohit Shukla, who sustained a nonfatal bullet injury in the April 29 operation in Drubgam village of Pulwama in south Kashmir.
With agencies inputs