Sepoy Sewak Singh

Sep Sewak Singh hailed from Bagha village in the Bathinda district of Punjab and was born in the year 1999. Son of Shri Gurcharan Singh and Smt Karamjit Kaur, he had two sisters as his siblings, out of which one sister Smt Jasvir Kaur was married. Belonging to a family of workers with no agricultural land, Sep Sewak Singh grew up in a household with modest means. 

After completing his school education, he joined the Indian Army in the year 2018 at the age of 18 years. He was recruited into the 4 Sikh LI Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, a regiment well known for its gallant soldiers. After serving for some time, Sep Sewak Singh was deputed to serve with the 49 RR Battalion, deployed in J&K for counter-insurgency operations. 

Poonch Terrorist Attack (J& K): 20 Apr 2023

During 2023, Sep Sewak Singh‘s unit 49 Raj Rif battalion was deployed in the Poonch district of J&K. The unit troops were engaged in operations against the terrorists on a regular basis as the unit's area of responsibility (AOR) was active with militancy. The volatility of its AOR demanded 'high alert' at all times on the part of the troops. The area was also prone to infiltration, which necessitated regular armed patrols to check any infiltration from across the border. The battalion followed strict SOPs(Standard Operating Procedures) while moving its men and material by deploying road-opening teams to conduct sanitization of the area. On 20 Apr 2023, Sep Sewak Singh and a few other soldiers were detailed to move to Sangiot from Bhimber Gali in the Poonch district for an operational task. After clearance by the road-opening party (ROP), as planned Sep Sewak Singh and his comrades set off for Sangiot in the afternoon of 20 Apr.

However, at around 1500 hrs, when their vehicle reached Bhata Dhurian, just a few kilometers from LOC, they came under attack by the terrorists. It was a pre-planned move by the terrorists who apparently had done the reconnaissance of the area and planned to attack at the time of their choosing. The heavily armed group of terrorists used grenades, automatic weapons, and sticky bombs too, in an attempt to cause maximum damage. The army truck carrying the soldiers was fired upon from three sides, with the terrorists taking advantage of poor visibility and bad weather conditions. The attack was so sudden and ferocious that Sep Sewak Singh and his comrades did not have adequate time to take any action. The vehicle also caught fire after a targeted attack on its fuel tank. The resultant fire entrapped the soldiers and they got severely injured.  As a result Sep Sewak Singh and four other soldiers soon succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Besides Sep Sewak Singh, the other martyred brave hearts included, Hav Mandeep Singh, Lance Naik Debashish Baswal, Lance Naik Kulwant Singh, and Sep Harkrishan Singh. Sep Sewak Singh was a fearless and committed soldier, who laid down his life at the very young age of 23 years in the line of his duty.

Sep Sewak Singh is survived by his father Shri Gurcharan Singh, mother Smt Karamjit Kaur, and two sisters.