2/Lt P. M. Raman of 3 Sikh Light Infantry led a pre-dawn assault at Chephema, Nagaland, on 3 June 1956 and died of his wounds, aged 21.
Fog at Chephema
Word reached 3 Sikh Light Infantry on 2 June 1956 that Naga insurgents were in Chephema village, Nagaland. Second Lieutenant Polur Muthuswamy Raman led the assault team, which reached the area at about 5 a.m. the next morning in fog and darkness.
The insurgents opened fire when challenged. Raman saw movement in a hut and killed two men. A grenade thrown at him missed. A second wounded him, and he kept going, chasing those who ran.
A man hiding nearby then shot him, severely wounding him. He threw a grenade that killed another insurgent and directed his men's fire until he lost consciousness. He died of his injuries that day. The hideout was destroyed.
Commissioned a Year Earlier
Raman was born on 4 December 1934. Sources disagree on where: Cannanore in one, North Arcot district in another. He was the son of Major Muthuswamy of the Army Medical Corps and the second of seven children, schooled partly in Burma and then in Pune.
Selected for the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned in 1955 into the Sikh Light Infantry, service number IC-7415. His first posting was the North-East Frontier Agency. His name is also spelled Pollur Mutthuswamy.
The portal lists his posthumous award in the Republic Day list of 1957.
What the citation recorded
The official citation could not be read for this article. The Defence Ministry's portal leaves the citation field blank in the archived record. Secondary profiles describe his leading an assault at Chephema on 3 June 1956 and continuing to direct fire after being severely wounded. This is a summary, not the official wording.
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