Sepoy Amit

Sep Amit hailed from Mundsa village in Matannail tehsil of Jhajjar District in Haryana. After completing his school education he joined the army and was recruited into 2 Jat Bn of the Jat Regiment, an infantry regiment well known for its brave soldiers.

Avalanche Tangdhar Sector: 03 Dec 2019

During Dec 2019, Sep Amit ’s unit 2 Jat Bn was deployed in J&K. The unit troops were manning the forward posts in Tangdhara Sector of Kupwara district in J&K. The posts were located in high altitude areas with inhospitable terrain. Besides manning the stationary posts, the unit launched regular armed patrols to monitor the area between the posts. The heavy snowfall during the winter season made the task more challenging for the troops manning the posts. The area was also prone to unpredictable avalanches during the winter season. One such horrific avalanche struck the post of 2 Jat Bn on 3rd Dec 2019. Sep Amit along with Hav Rajendra Singh and Sep Kamal Kumar manning the post got swept away and buried under heaps of snow.

The avalanche took the soldiers by surprise and did not give any time to react. Avalanches usually take place due to the accumulation of snow and are triggered by morning sunlight. In other cases, when the slope of accumulated snow is between 60 to 80 degrees, the instability leads to an avalanche. Although the Army had a unit of the Snow Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) in Jammu and Kashmir, with several observatories at various locations to issue warnings and alerts to the Army formations and units, it could not detect this avalanche.

The rescue operation was launched by the army with a team equipped with specialized types of equipment. However, the soldiers buried under tons of snow could not be saved. Sep Amit was a brave and determined soldier who laid down his life at the age of 28 years in the line of his duty.