The braveheart of Udhampur
The J&K’s (Jammu and Kashmir) Udhampur railway station has been renamed to ‘Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan Railway Station.’ The decision was taken to remember and honour the late Captain in the Indian Army.
Captain Tushar Mahajan was born on 20 April 1989 to Dev Raj Gupta, an educationist and Asha Rani, in Udhampur, J&K, India. He completed his schooling from Happy Model Higher Secondary School. “When he was asked to write an essay in the class, he wrote that his aim was to join the Army and kill terrorists. That was the time when his other classmates did not even know what terrorists or the army was,” his classmate and childhood friend Sushant had said while paying tribute after Capt. Tushar was martyred.
Tushar Mahajan joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 2006. He was appointed as ‘Divisional Cadet Captain ‘ of his squadron, a coveted position to hold during NDA training. He passed out of NDA in June 2009 and thereafter went to the Indian Military Academy (IMA) Dehradun for further training.
Captain Tushar was one of the two officers and ten other soldiers to join 9 Para (Special Forces) in 2010 out of 100 probationers.
In 2012-2013, he served in Ladakh and became part of many reconnaissance and surveillance operations. Many a times he assumed the role of a covert operative and gathered valuable information about terrorists’ activities, the terrain, the demography, needed to conduct various military operations. He also became a combat diver after successfully completing the three-month tough course at INS (Indian Naval Ship) Venduruthy. As a diver and leader, he thereafter undertook many underwater rescue operations in J&K region.
During the year 2016, Captain Tushar’s unit was deployed in J & K area and was undertaking counterinsurgency operations on a regular basis. On 20 February 2016, militants entered the nearby multi-storeyed Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) at Pampore in Pulwama district, about 15 km south of Srinagar city. The police and security forces evacuated more than 100 people.
Capt. Tushar was tasked to lead, plan and execute the building intervention operation to eliminate the terrorists. EDI was a modern building sprawling over 10,000 square feet and having four floors with tens of offices, rooms and halls. His plan included placing snipers all around targeting the windows and entering in two teams. The teams began securing it floor by floor and room by room. It was a very risky operation as the well-positioned terrorists were heavily equipped using programmed weapons and projectiles.
Capt. Tushar’s squad while approaching the third floor, came under attack from one of the rooms. Undeterred, he lobbed grenades and cleared the room. As the squad was advancing further, it was pinned down by fire from another room. Realising the gravity of the situation, Capt. Tushar advanced further while firing and lobbing grenades simultaneously. However, while doing so, he was struck by a hail of fire in his legs. Despite being wounded and bleeding profusely, he returned fire wounding the terrorist and received another shot, injuring him severely.
Displaying remarkable courage and gallantry, Capt. Tushar even in that injured state charged at the terrorist and eliminated him instantly before collapsing. He had been hit by four bullets. He was evacuated for medical treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries and was martyred.
Capt. Tushar Mahajan displayed exceptional courage and fighting spirit during the operation and led from the front like a true military leader. His sacrifice paved the way for subsequent coordinated assault wherein all the militants were successfully neutralised.
He was given the gallantry award “Shaurya Chakra” for his bravery, unyielding fighting spirit, and supreme sacrifice.
Capt. Tushar Mahajan is survived by his father parents and brother Nikhil Gupta. His statue was unveiled at the ‘T Morh’ on Udhampur on his birthday in 2017.
Radhakrishnan is a Pune based freelance journalist, poet and short story writer.