chandigarh

Updated: Jan 07, 2020 10:55 IST

Lt Gen Prem Nath Hoon, who served the army for four decades before hanging up his boots as chief of the Western Command in 1987, died in Panchkula on Monday evening. He was 90.

His son Ronny Hoon said the General died after suffering brain haemorrhage at 6:30pm. The last rites will be performed at the electric crematorium in Sector 25 at 3:30pm on Tuesday.

Commissioned into the Sikh regiment two years after the Partition, Lt Gen Hoon led the Operation Meghdoot — as the commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps — to capture the Siachen glacier in 1984.

As a frontline soldier, he defended the borders, during the Chinese Aggression and the 1965 war against Pakistan. He also served as the director general of military operations.

Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd), former chief of Western Command, said Hoon was a committed General, who till his unfortunate demise dedicated himself to the service of nation and community.

“He had anchored the Operation Meghdoot, wherein Indian Army pre-empted and prevented Pakistan’s attempts to annex the Siachen. In his loss, we have lost a veteran, who was a role model for the young generation,” he said.

Singh said Lt Gen Hoon was also mentoring NGO activities for national integration and veteran welfare.

Lt Gen JS Dhillon (retd), former commander of 15 Corps, termed Lt Gen Hoon “a good soldier”, who during the Siachen issue successfully led the operation despite shortage of troops, time and equipment. “He handled the things so well that we are still holding onto the Siachen. That has been the biggest achievement of his life,” he said.

Lt Gen Hoon (retd), was born in 1929 in Abbottabad, North West Frontier Province, and joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, in 1947. “I was sure about what I wanted and went ahead to achieve it. I found this grit to be an asset throughout life, even under variable conditions of combat,” the General had told HT in an interview in June last year.