On Tuesday, thousands of residents of Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand paid their tribute to the Indian Army’s Havildar Davendra Singh Rana, who was martyred in an operation in Kashmir on April 5. Havildar Davendra Singh belonged to the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand and lost his life in an anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Keran sector.

Amidst the nation-wide lockdown, residents thronged to their balconies, rooftops to pay their final respects to the fallen hero- Havildar Davendra Singh Rana. The heart-wrenching video has gone viral on social media in which it was seen that people stood outside their houses, maintaining social distancing to salute the martyr.

Paratrooper Davender Rana reaches home at Uttarakhand for the final journey. Salute your sacrifice gallant Commando. Tha nation owes you a tribute. Jai Hind pic.twitter.com/Ck9KTvtTOR — Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia (@Ptr6Vb) April 7, 2020

Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also paid tribute to the Indian Army’s Havildar Davendra Singh Rana.

Five commandos from an elite unit of the Indian Army were martyred over the weekend along the Line of Control in Kashmir after an intense close-quarter fight with an equal number of Islamic terrorists who had infiltrated into India. The encounter took place in the Keran sector on Sunday with all five terrorists killed, the Indian Army said on Monday.

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The five men have been identified as Subedar Sanjeev Kumar, Paratrooper Bal Krishan from Himachal Pradesh, Havildar Davendra Singh Rana, Paratrooper Amit Kumar from Uttarakhand, and Paratrooper Chhatrapal Singh from Rajasthan.

“The Indian Army launched a daring operation at the LoC (Line of Control) and engaged Pakistani-supported infiltrators in a close-quarter battle in heavy snow, neutralising the entire infiltrating batch of five. Four soldiers under the command of a junior commissioned officer from one of the most professional Para SF (Special Forces) units were heli-dropped near the LoC after information on the infiltrators was received,” the Indian Army statement said.

The operation “Randori Behak” to intercept the terrorists began on 1 April when patrolling troops reported footprints near the LoC fence that was covered under the snow. The army then quickly deployed search teams but extremely difficult terrain and inclement weather prevented any engagement. That is when the commandos from 4 Para (SF) were called in to take over the operation, an officer said.

An image of the group of Special Forces commandos jumping off a helicopter in the mountains of Kupwara in Kashmir was captured on April 4. One of the soldiers was seen standing waist-deep in snow as the others move forward.

This was the last photo of the soldiers from 4 Para, the same unit which participated in the surgical strikes of 2016.

The last photo of the Para Special Forces commandos who eliminated 4 Pakistan terrorists. Image Source: Twitter

According to Livefist, on April 5, around dawn, the Special Forces squad had ventured onto a cornice, an overhanging patch of hardened snow with no underlying support. The cornice broke under the weight of two soldiers.

Subedar Sanjiv along with Paratroopers Amit and Chhatrpal tried to close in with the terrorist location but slid down, said a para commando who was in the second squad a short distance away and was witness to what was taking place. The soldiers fell in the exact area where the terrorists were hiding. Soon, a gunfight broke out between special forces soldiers and terrorists.

Paratrooper Amit sustained 15 bullet injuries while Subedar Sanjiv and Paratrooper Chhatarpal also took heavy fire. They managed to kill two of the 5 terrorists before succumbing to their injuries. The other two men, Havildar Davender and Paratrooper Balkishan rushed forward to extract their three comrades, charging into the exchange, quickly eliminating two more terrorists.

Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries on Sunday evening after being airlifted to Srinagar’s Army hospital. The remains of the other 3 commandos and the terrorists were found within just two meters of each other.