Captain Arun Singh Jasrotia of 9 Para (Special Forces) led the assault on a cave hideout in the Lolab Valley in September 1995.
The climb to the Lolab cave
In September 1995, Captain Arun Singh Jasrotia of 9 Para (Special Forces) led his team on a climb of about ten hours, in darkness and rain, towards a reported militant hideout in the Lolab Valley. The position lay at around 3,000 metres. One account says about 20 militants were in a cave there.
The team came under fire as it closed in. Jasrotia killed one man with his knife and used grenades against others. He was shot in the shoulder and carried on, then was hit in the chest and fell. Accounts differ on how many he killed himself, but agree that his team went on to eliminate the group. Sources also differ on dates: the official portal's summary gives the action as 14 September, others 15 September. He died on 15 September by one account and on 26 September, after treatment in Delhi, by another.
Sena Medal, then 9 Para
Jasrotia was born on 16 August 1968 at Sujanpur in Pathankot district, Punjab, the son of Lt Col Prabhat Singh Jasrotia. Commissioned into 8 Bihar, he volunteered for 9 Para and earlier received the Sena Medal. A Ministry of Defence list spells his name Arun Kumar Jasrotia. The Punjab government conferred the Nishan-e-Khalsa on him in 1999.
What the citation recorded
Summary, not the official text: the award recorded his leadership of an operation in the Lolab Valley, Jammu and Kashmir, in September 1995. Attacked as his team neared a militant position, he fought at close quarters and continued after being shot. His men then cleared the position. He died of his wounds.