L/Nk Nazir Ahmad Wani of the Territorial Army, attached to 34 Rashtriya Rifles, killed two terrorists near Batagund, Shopian, on 25 November 2018.
Six terrorists near Batagund
On 25 November 2018, Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani was part of an operation against six terrorists in a village near Batagund, in Shopian district. Under heavy fire he killed a district commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and a foreign terrorist.
He was hit several times in the gunfight, including in the head. He injured a third man. He was given first aid and evacuated, and died of his wounds. The Army reported that six terrorists were killed that day.
A Territorial Army soldier from Kulgam
Wani came from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district. He joined 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004, and his battalion was attached to 34 Rashtriya Rifles. He was 38.
He had already earned the Sena Medal twice for gallantry, in 2007 and 2018. The second award, shown as a Bar, was for killing a terrorist at very close range.
The Defence Ministry named him, as 12974389N Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, the sole Ashoka Chakra recipient of Republic Day 2019. The Hindu reported him as the first recipient from Kashmir.
What the citation recorded
The official citation text could not be read for this article; the PIB document cited for it was unreachable. This is a summary, not the citation. An Army statement reported at the time recorded that on 25 November 2018 Lance Naik Wani took part in an operation against six terrorists in a village near Batagund. Under heavy fire he killed the district commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and a foreign terrorist, and injured another. He was hit several times, including in the head, and died of his wounds.