Lance Naik Somvir Singh

Lance Naik Somvir Singh hailed from Sindol village in the Hisar district of Haryana. He wanted to serve in the Armed Forces like many young lads in Haryana since his childhood and eventually joined the Indian Army on 26 June 2015 after completing his school education.  He was recruited into 113 Engr Regt of the Corps of Engineers, the important combat support arm of Indian Army. By the year 2022, he had put in around 7 years of service and had developed into a dedicated and professionally competent soldier.

Army Convoy Accident (Sikkim): 23 Dec 2022

During Dec 2022, L/Nk Somvir Singh's unit 113 Engr battalion, was deployed in Sikkim near the Indo-China border. The AOR(Area of Responsibility) of the unit spanned over remote rugged mountainous terrain with extreme weather conditions, especially in the winter season. The troops were deployed on various forward posts and often undertook patrol to monitor the area in between the manned posts. Also, heavy snowfall often blocked the roads and hampered the movement of troops which necessitated frequent clearance operations. The mountainous roads in the AOR of the unit were narrow and had steep gradients posing serious challenges to the quick movement of troops. L/Nk Somvir Singh and his comrades were tasked for an operation on 23 Dec 2022 and had to move by road to the operational area.

As planned the three-vehicle convoy set off in the morning of 23 Dec from Chatten to reach Thangu. Besides 26 Mech Inf, the soldiers traveling in the convoy belonged to various other units which included, 285 Med Regt, 221 Fd Regt, 25 Grenadiers, 8 Raj Rif, 26 Mech Inf and 1871 Fd Regt.  As the vehicle carrying L/Nk Somvir Singh and 19 other soldiers was on its way, it skidded down a steep slope at Zema in North Sikkim while negotiating a sharp turn.  As the vehicle fell into a deep gorge, it got mangled beyond recognition due to the severe impact. As a result, all 20 soldiers got severely injured. The Army quickly launched the rescue operation and the injured soldiers were transferred to a field hospital,  However L/Nk Somvir Singh and fifteen other soldiers succumbed to their injuries and were martyred.

Besides L/Nk Somvir Singh, the other martyred soldiers included Nb Sub Omkar Singh (285 Med Regt), Nb Sub Chandan Kumar Mishra (285 Med Regt),  L/Hav Gopinath Makur (26 Mech Inf), Sep Sukha Ram (26 Mech Inf), Nk Ravinder Thapa (26 Mech Inf), Nk Vaisakh S (221 Fd Regt), Nk Pramod Kumar Singh(221 Fd Regt), L/Nk Bhupendra Singh (25 Grenadiers), Nk Shyam Singh Yadav (25 Grenadiers), Nk Lokesh Kumar (25 Grenadiers), Gdr Vikash (25 Grenadiers), Sub Guman Singh (8 Raj Rif), L/Hav Arvind Kumar (8 Raj Rif), Hav Charan Singh (26 Mech Inf), and L/Nk Manoj Kumar(1871 Fd Regt). L/Nk Somvir Singh was a gallant and devoted soldier, who laid down his life in the line of his duty.

 L/Nk Somvir Singh is survived by his parents, wife, daughter, son, and brother Surender ( Currently serving in Army).