Major Sudhir Kumar Walia of 9 Para (Special Forces) charged a militant hideout in the Haphruda forest, Kupwara, on 29 August 1999.
The hideout in the Haphruda forest
On the morning of 29 August 1999, Major Sudhir Kumar Walia took a five-man squad of 9 Para (Special Forces) into the Haphruda forest in Kupwara district. Crawling uphill with one companion, he reached a small knoll and saw two armed men about four metres away, with a large hideout in a depression below. He shot the nearer man and charged the hideout, covered by his companion.
About 20 militants came out, according to the published accounts. He fired on them at about two metres and was hit in the face, chest and arm. Accounts differ on how many he killed: one says four, another nine. Lying wounded at the entrance, he stayed on the radio to his commanders, telling them to hold their positions and block escape routes. He was evacuated after about 35 minutes of fighting and died of his wounds.
Banuri to Zulu Top
Walia's family came from Banuri village in Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. Sources disagree on his birth year. Commissioned into 4 Jat, he joined 9 Para in 1990 and received the Sena Medal twice. He was aide-de-camp to General V. P. Malik and, at his own request, joined his unit in the Kargil war, where he led a team that captured Zulu Top in the Mushkoh Valley.
What the citation recorded
Summary, not the official text: the award recorded his action of 29 August 1999 in the Haphruda forest, Kupwara district, where he located a concealed militant hideout, attacked it at close range and was gravely wounded. He kept directing the operation by radio before evacuation and died of his wounds.