Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and the pilots who dropped bombs on a terror camp in Balakot, Pakistan, were picked for gallantry awards announced on Wednesday.
The awards:
Kirti Chakra
It is the second-highest peacetime gallantry award. The medal is made of silver and is 1.375 inch in diameter, with a replica of Ashoka’s Chakra surrounded by a lotus wreath embossed on one side and the words Kirti Chakra on the other. The ribbon is green divided into three equal parts by two orange lines.
• Sapper Prakash Jadhav (posthumous): Jadhav killed militants in Kashmir while saving his fellow jawans.
• Harshpal Singh: Singh, a CRPF deputy commandant, received his fifth gallantry medal for a counter-terror op in Jammu.
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Vir Chakra
The award is the third-highest wartime gallantry award. The medal is of standard silver,
1.375 inch in diameter with a five-pointed heraldic star on one side and the words Vir Chakra on the other. The ribbon is half-blue, half-orange.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was awarded the third-highest wartime gallantry award for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 combat jet on February 27 – a day after the Balakot operation – before he was shot down and captured on the other side of Line of Control. This is the IAF’s first Vir Chakra since the Kargil war.
{{/usCountry}}Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was awarded the third-highest wartime gallantry award for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 combat jet on February 27 – a day after the Balakot operation – before he was shot down and captured on the other side of Line of Control. This is the IAF’s first Vir Chakra since the Kargil war.
{{/usCountry}}The pilots of the five Mirage 2000s who bombed the Jaish terror camp in Balakot too have been given awards
■ Wing Commander Pranav Raj
■ Squadron Leader Rahul Basoya
■ Squadron Leader Pankaj Arvind Bhujade
■ Squadron Leader B Karthik Narayan Reddy
■ Squadron Leader Shashank Singh
Shaurya Chakra
It is the third-highest peacetime gallantry award. The medal is made of bronze and is 1.375 inch in diameter. It has an embossed replica of Ashoka’s Chakra surrounded by a lotus wreath on one side and the words Shaurya Chakra on the other. The ribbon is green, divided by three vertical lines.
■ Lt Col Ajay Singh Kushwah
■ Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal (posthumous)
■ Captain Maheshkumar Bhure
■ Lance Naik Sandeep Singh (posthumous)
■ Sepoy Brajesh Kumar (posthumous)
■ Sepoy Hari Singh (posthumous)
■ Rifleman Ajveer Singh Chauhan
■ Rifleman Shive Kumar
(posthumous)
■ LME Amit Singh Rana
■ CRPF constable Sable Dnyaneshwar Shriram
■ SPO Ashiq Hussain Malik
(posthumous)
■ J&K police head constable
Subash Chander
■ Sub inspector Imran
Hussan Tak (posthumous)
Others honoured
Following officers were rewarded the Yudh Seva Medal for their role in the February 26-27 operations
■ Squadron leader Minty Aggarwal, played a crucial role as flight controller
■ Air Commodore
Sunil Kashinath Vidhate
■ Group Captain Yeshpal Singh Negi
■ Group Captain Hemant Kumar
■ Group Captain Hansel Joseph Sequeira