Major Gurpreet Singh

Major Gurpreet Singh hailed from Tepla village in Saha tehsil of Ambala district in Haryana. Son of an army veteran Col Inder Singh, he had a brother Harpreet Singh as his sibling.  He had a strong desire to serve in the Armed forces like his father, right from his childhood. Following his passion, he got selected for the prestigious NDA after his school education. He later went to IMA Dehradun for further training and passed out as a Lieutenant at the age of 21 years.  He was commissioned into 10 Dogra Battalion of the Dogra Regiment, an infantry regiment known for its gallant soldiers and numerous battle honours. 

He soon developed into a fine officer with commendable soldierly skills.  After serving for few years, he got married to Ms Mandeep Kaur in the year 1995 and the couple was blessed with a daughter Shireen. Later he was deputed to serve with the 11 RR Battalion, deployed in J&K for counter-insurgency operations. 

Kishtwar Operation (J&K): 19 Oct 1999

During 1999,  Maj Gurpreet Singh was serving with the 11 RR battalion deployed in Doda district of J&K for counterinsurgency operations. As the area of responsibility of the unit under the command of Col Rajesh Sahai was an insurgency-prone area, the troops had to maintain a very high level of alert at all times. Maj Gurpreet Singh had joined the 11 RR battalion after a stint with his parent unit 10 Dogra deployed in Poonch sector. The Kishtwar sector of Doda district was very volatile and was often used by the militants to infiltrate Indian territory. Consequently, the troops had to keep a very strict vigil and faced challenging situations on a regular basis. On 18 Oct 1999, the security forces received information from intelligence sources about the presence of some hardcore militants in the Kishtwar-Doda sector of Jammu & Kashmir.  After analyzing the information, it was decided to launch an operation to neutralize the militants under the leadership of Maj Gurpreet Singh.

On 19 October 1999, as planned the team reached the suspected area and launched the cordon and search operation.  As the search operation was underway, the militants sensing the danger fired at the troops in a bid to escape. A fierce gun battle ensued thereafter with a heavy exchange of fire from both sides. Maj Gurpreet Singh and his team continued to engage the militants to thwart their attempt to escape. However, during the exchange of fire, Maj Gurpreet Singh got hit by a bullet and was seriously injured. He later succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Maj Gurpreet Singh was a valiant soldier and a fine officer, who led from the front like a good military leader. He displayed courage, leadership, and comradeship of a very high order during the operation and laid down his life at the age of 27 years, in the service of the nation.

Major Gurpreet Singh is survived by his  wife Smt Mandeep Kaur (IAS), and daughter Dr Shireen Hanjra.