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DRASS (JK): Back then he was in awe of his brother and Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra. Ten years on banker Vishal Batra has decided to join the Territorial Army as a tribute to his twin sibling.
Twenty four-year-old Vikram had laid down his life while recapturing the strategic 5140-point in the Tiger hill stretch from the Pakistani troops during the Kargil war in 1999.
“I want to enter the armed forces through Territorial Army (TA). This would be my way of paying tribute to my brother,” Vishal, who works with the ICICI, said on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Kargil Operation Vijay.
“Vikram completed his mission successfully before laying down his life. I miss him. But I am proud of him. He has made the family proud,” said Vishal who had appeared twice in exams for the armed forces but could not qualify.
Pakistani forces had taken positions in bunkers at a height of 17,000 feet on Peak 5140, the highest point on the Tololing Ridge and one of the most arduous and crucial in the Drass region.
Lt Batra and Capt Sanjeev Jamwal were ordered to recapture the peak on the night of June 19, 1999, about five weeks after the Kargil war began, said Commanding officer 13 Jammu and Kashmir rifles Col Gurpreet Singh after paying tributes at the war memorial here today.
According to Col Singh, the operation was too dangerous to be carried out during the day. Aware of the enemy’s vantage point, Lt Batra — who was later promoted to captain on the battlefield — decided to attack the enemy from the rear.
In the morning of June 20, 1999 Vikram and his troops captured 5140-point, which finally lead to the decisive fall of Tiger Hill and to India’s eventual victory.
“Vikram and his men assaulted the enemy,” Col Singh said adding that the camp was routed and many Pakistani soldiers killed.
All his men made it alive but Vikram, who led a brilliant operation in one of India’s toughest campaigns in mountain warfare, “died in a sniper shot”, he said.
During the war he became the face of the young Indian soldier who fought ferociously and died fearlessly. His code name was Sher Shah.
Vikram, who hailed from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, was awarded Param Vir Chakra (PVC).