President Draupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious gallantry awards on Monday in recognition of exceptional acts of bravery by personnel of the Indian Armed Forces and security agencies.
Among the recipients of the Shaurya Chakra Medal was Lt. Commander Suraj Prashar, who received the prestigious award along with his fellow soldiers for his gallant action during Operation Chuntawadi in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir.
As part of the operation, the soldiers eliminated the heavily armed terrorists in a coordinated action by the security forces, according to a report by DD India. The operation was successful thanks to the courage of Prashar and the other soldiers who participated in it.
Here is a video of Commander Suraj Prashar receiving the award
Defense Inauguration 2026 (Phase 1) was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan and was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh among other dignitaries.
Besides Lt. Commander Suraj Prashar, Shaurya Chakra, Assistant Commander Muhammad Shafiq, Lt. Commander Ram Goyal and Constable Saddam Hussain were also presented for their bravery during the operation in Chuntwadi and its success.
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Who is Lt. Suraj Prashar?
Lt. Commander Suraj Prashar launched a joint cordon and search operation on 5 and 6 November 2024 at Chuntawadi village in Jammu and Kashmir and displayed courage and leadership during the operation, eliminating an A++ grade foreign terrorist and recovering warlike stores.
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During the operation, when the terrorists started firing at the troops, Prashar identified and occupied a vantage point close to the target area. The terrorists took refuge in a house in Chuntawadi village. During the shooting, one of the trapped terrorists tried to break the security cordon and hit the forces with non-lethal gunshots. That’s when Prashar immediately realized the gravity of the situation and opened deliberate fire on the other terrorist who was still hiding, keeping his forces informed in real time, resulting in the terrorist being successfully neutralized by his forces around 8.25 pm.
The officer then kept the target area under constant surveillance until sunrise and later led a joint team to recover the war-like stores.
Prashar’s conduct went far above and beyond the ordinary call of duty, displaying conspicuous gallantry consistent with the highest traditions of the service.
