Major Amit Deswal was commissioned in 2006 in the Artillery and then volunteered for the Para Special Forces.
Highlights
- Major Amit Deswal shot twice in operation against terrorists in Manipur
- Army made several unsuccessful attempts to evacuate the wounded officer
- He could only be moved to a hilltop nearby, where he died late last night
Battling bad weather and tough terrain, the Army today airlifted the body of Major Amit Deswal out of the thick jungles in Manipur's Tamenglong district, where the special forces officer was killed in an operation against terrorists in Wednesday.
The 35-year-old Major of the 21 Paras was shot twice on Wednesday and the Army made multiple attempts till last light yesterday to evacuate the wounded officer by helicopter out of the area. He could only be moved to a hilltop nearby, where he died late last night.
The body of the major was flown to Jorhat today from where it will then be taken to Surheti in Haryana's Jhajjar district, his home town.
Major Deswal is survived by his parents, his wife and a three-year-old son.
The 21 Paras had at about 3.30 am on Wednesday, launched an operation against a splinter group of Naga insurgents who are not part of a peace process with the government. They had Intelligence that the group had camped 30 km off the National Highway 36 in the heavily forested area.
At about 7 am, Major Deswal killed one terrorist and the special forces commandos seized an AK -47 gun. But the other terrorists managed to escape.
The Major and his team tracked them down again at about 4 pm in the evening about 20 km away from the highway. In the gun-battle that followed, Major Deswal was shot twice in the pelvis.
Major Deswal had won a commando dagger after topping his course. He was commissioned in 2006 in the Artillery and then volunteered for the Para Special Forces.