Hav Kuldeep Singh

Hav Kuldeep Singh hailed from Raju Dwakhari village in Dasua tehsil of Hosiarpur district in Punjab. Born in the year 1983, Hav Kuldeep Singh joined the Army after completing his school education at the age of 19 years on 26 Aug 2002. He was recruited into 15 Sikh LI of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers and rich history of various battle honours.

After serving for few years, he got married to Ms. Rajwinder Kaur and the couple had a daughter and a son. By the year 2020, he had put in around 18 years of service and been promoted to the rank of Havaldar. He had served in various operational areas by then and gathered substantial field experience.

Cross-Border Firing (Nowgam Sector): 01 Oct 2020

During Sep-Oct 2020, Hav Kuldeep Singh’s unit was deployed in the Kupwara district of J&K. The unit troops were manning the forward posts in the Nowgam sector along the LOC. The LOC remained highly active and volatile with ceasefire violations occurring very often and without any warning. The year 2019 witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations — 3289 — by Pakistani troops since 2003. Similarly, the year 2020 too continued with ceasefire violations and the number exceeded 1400 by Sep 2020. In yet another case of ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops opened unprovoked fire in the Nowgam sector along the LOC on 01 Oct 2020.

On 01 Oct 2020, in the morning Pakistan Army troops initiated unprovoked firing on Indian posts from across the border in the Nowgam Sector of Kupwara district. During that period, Hav Kuldeep Singh was manning one of the forward posts along the Line of Control in the Nowgam sector. The Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and resorted to heavy cross-border firing using small arms, mortars and field guns. Indian army responded in a befitting manner to the Pakistani aggression and consequently, a heavy exchange of fire ensued thereafter, which continued intermittently for several hours. However, during this heavy exchange of fire, Hav Kuldeep Singh, Rifleman Shubham Sharma and four other soldiers got severely injured. They were evacuated and shifted to the Army medical facility for medical treatment. However, Hav Kuldeep Singh and Rifleman Shubham Sharma later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Hav Kuldeep Singh was a valiant soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty following the highest traditions of the Indian Army.

Hav Kuldeep Singh is survived by his wife Smt Rajwinder Kaur, daughter and a son.