Colonel N. J. Nair, KC, of 16 Maratha Light Infantry was killed leading a counter-attack against an ambush in Nagaland on 20 December 1993.
Ambush on the Mokokchung to Mariani Road
At about 8.40 a.m. on 20 December 1993, Colonel N. J. Nair was leading the advance party of a convoy of 16 Maratha Light Infantry on the Mokokchung to Mariani road in Nagaland. About 100 insurgents opened fire at a series of sharp bends.
Nair was wounded and got to the far side of the road. A lance naik stood on his shoulders to throw two grenades at the insurgent positions. Nair then formed the survivors into an assault line and led them in. He killed one insurgent at close quarters and went on despite several gunshot wounds, until the insurgents broke and fled.
His body was found about 300 metres from the ambush site, near the firing positions. Casualty figures differ: the citation as reproduced gives one JCO and 13 jawans killed on the spot, while Honourpoint's narrative names 13 others killed.
Mizoram, 1983
He already held the Kirti Chakra, awarded at Republic Day 1984 for close combat with insurgents in Mizoram the year before. The official record of that award shows him as a major, service number IC-25070.
Born in Ernakulam on 17 February 1951, he attended Sainik School Kazhakootam and the National Defence Academy. The Ministry of Defence lists his parents as R Neelakantan Nair and P Saraswathy Amma, and dates his posthumous Ashoka Chakra to 26 January 1994.
What the citation recorded
Summary, not the official text: a citation reproduced by the Honourpoint memorial site says about 100 insurgents ambushed a convoy advance party he was leading in Nagaland, killing a JCO and 13 jawans on the spot, and that he formed the survivors into an assault line and led them until the insurgents broke and fled.