Param Vir Chakra winner Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar was born on 3 March 1976 in Kalol village of Himachal Pradesh. Before joining the army, Sanjay Kumar used to work as a taxi driver in Delhi.

After joining the Army, Sanjay Kumar was a member of the 13th contingent of the Jammu Kashmir Rifles during the 1999 Kargil War. His contingent was entrusted with the responsibility of capturing the Flat Top area. This area was occupied by Pakistan Army. The enemy soldiers sitting in the bunkers had machine guns which had a path coming from below. The enemy was firing continuously due to which it was not possible for the Indian soldiers to move up. The enemy had stopped the Indian contingent at a distance of 150 meters.

Seeing the seriousness of the situation and understanding the importance of destroying that bunker in capturing the Flat Top area, Sanjay Kumar crawled alone towards the enemy. Due to the hail of bullets, two bullets immediately pierced Sanjay’s chest and arm. Fountains of blood were coming out from Sanjay Kumar’s body. But Sanjay Kumar continued moving forward with the strength of his indomitable will, without even the slightest concern for his life. Now a hand-to-hand combat started in which badly injured Sanjay Kumar killed three enemy soldiers. With this, he got hold of an enemy machine gun, carrying it he moved towards another bunker. The enemy soldiers in that bunker were stunned to see this extraordinary bravery and started running away. Sanjay Kumar killed everyone with a machine gun.

Due to this extreme bravery of Sanjay Kumar, other soldiers of the detachment were also filled with enthusiasm and despite the difficult hilly terrain, they attacked the enemy soldiers. Soon the tricolor started fluttering on the flat top area.

Recognizing this extraordinary feat of Sanjay Kumar, the Indian Army promoted him to the rank of Subedar Major and awarded him the Param Vir Chakra, the army’s highest gallantry award. Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar is still serving in the army and is posted at the National Defense Academy, Khagwasla, Pune.

Salute and heartfelt gratitude to Subedar Major Param Veer Sanjay Kumar on his birthday today, 3rd March. May God grant him health, happiness and long life.

Shrirang Vasudev Pendharkar

Edit by Manisha