When Nimrat Kaur revealed Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists abducted, killed her dad: 'He was just 44'

Nimrat Kaur's father, Major Bhupender Singh, was an officer in the Indian Army, who was killed by terrorists in Kashmir in 1994.

Actor Nimrat Kaur has always been vocal on her connection with her father. Nimrat's father, Major Bhupender Singh was an officer in the Indian Army, who was posted in the strife-torn Kashmir region in the 90s. In 2015, Nimrat opened up about his death for the first time, and spoke about how his abduction and murder at the hands of the terrorists changed her life. (

Nimrat Kaur's father, Major Bhupender Singh, was an officer in the Indian Army.

Nimrat Kaur on her father's death

In an interview with Bombay Times in 2015, Nimrat spoke about when the family was visiting her father in Kashmir during their winter break. "Kashmir was not a family station, so we continued living in Patiala when he went to Kashmir. We were on our winter vacation in January 1994 and visiting our father in Kashmir, when the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen kidnapped him from his place of work and after seven days, terminated him. They had made some ridiculous demands of some terrorists to be released that he obviously did not agree to. He was just 44 when he died. We got the news and flew back with his body to Delhi and I saw his body for the first time only in Delhi."

Nimrat called that phase the most difficult of her life. "My life changed," she said, adding, "It was not a financial threat. But that life that I had lived with those orderlies, those army cars went away overnight. It was difficult moving to a civilian life. In the army, you are living in a shell and that’s why my father never sent me to an army school. You are used to three sevadars around you and suddenly, there are no army get togethers, so to just adjust to the new life without any fauji kids for friends was tough. I was undergoing puberty that time and that compounded my agony. But the army stands by you like a rock. They are your family and even today, they will come at the drop of a hat if you need something and they will do anything for you. I also think it’s to do with my father’s goodwill and his relationship with people."

In the same interview, Nimrat revealed that her father was posthumously awarded with the Shaurya Chakra, a gallantary award, by the Indian Army. And the announcement was made on her birthday - March 13.

Nimrat Kaur's career

Nimrat began her career in showbiz as a model before gaining recognition for music videos in the early 2000s. She made her film debut in 2006 with The Peddlers, but gained fame only in 2013 with Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, which also starred Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. She has since worked in hits like Airlift and Sky Force. She also appeared in American shows Homeland and Wayward Pines.