Sujjan Singh of 13 Kumaon charged two militant hideouts near Zalurah, Kupwara, on 26 September 1994 to draw fire from his search party.
Hideouts near Zalurah
On 26 September 1994, a search party from 13 Kumaon was working through forest near Zalurah village in Kupwara district when it found two militant hideouts beside a steep nullah. Sujjan Singh commanded the party. The militants opened fire at close range; one account puts the distance from the nearest hideout at about 15 metres.
He charged directly at the position, firing as he went. Published accounts agree he was hit several times and kept moving forward until rounds pierced his helmet and killed him. His advance drew the fire away from the rest of the party. The assault team then attacked, the militants in the hideouts were killed, and their arms and ammunition were recovered.
Sources differ on the name of the operation. His profile places it under counter-insurgency operations in Kupwara, while a regimental history by Col NN Bhatia (Retd) calls it Operation Eagle, within Operation Rakshak.
From Kanina Khas to 13 Kumaon
He was born on 30 March 1953 at Kanina Khas in Haryana, into a farming family, and joined 13 Kumaon. He served with the battalion in the Longewala sector in 1971, and later on the staff of an NCC battalion in Kolkata. The award list gives his rank as Naib Subedar, other records as Subedar. His name also appears as Sajjan. The regimental history records the Ashoka Chakra as conferred on Republic Day 1995.
What the citation recorded
Summary, not the official text: the award recognised his actions on 26 September 1994 near Zalurah in Kupwara district, where he commanded a search party that found militant hideouts and came under heavy fire. He charged the position, kept advancing after being hit, and was killed. All the militants were later killed and their weapons recovered.