Lt Gen Y K Joshi flies over Batra hilltop to pay homage to Captain Vikram Batra

Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Y K Joshi flew over the Batra hilltop in Kargil in Sukhoi-30 MKI to pay homage to martyr Captain Vikram Batra.

Jammu: Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Y K Joshi overflew the Batra hilltop in Kargil in Sukhoi-30 MKI to pay homage to braveheart martyr Captain Vikram Batra on his Balidan Diwas' on Wednesday, an Army official said. On July 7, 1999, Captain Batra, a young and brave officer, who had caught the fancy of the nation and become the icon of the Indian Army officer spirit by his success signal to capture Point 5140 with victory message Yeh Dil Maange More made the supreme sacrifice but not before capturing Point 4875 during the Kargil War, he said.

'Point 4875', also known as the Batra Top, is a mountain top along the Line of Control (LoC) and named after Captain Batra, a Paramveer Chakra (PVC) awardee. To commemorate his Balidan Diwas', his then Commanding Officer and now GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen Y K Joshi overflew the Batra Top in a Sukhoi-30 MKI, Northern Command defence spokesman Lt Col Abhinav Navneet said. "This gesture epitomises the enduring relationship between a Commanding Officer and his officer," he added.

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Lt Gen Joshi, who is a Vir Chakra awardee and a Kargil war hero, paid homage to his fallen comrade from the sky, an apt recognition of IAF's contribution to the ground operations in Operation VIJAY, the spokesman said. Captain Batra continues to motivate the present generation of officers and would do so in perpetuity, he said. It was most befitting that his gallant action was commemorated by his then Commanding Officer of 13 JAKRIF, the spokesman said.

Captain Batra had led the charge of his troops of the 13th battalion of the 'JAKRIF' regiment of the Indian Army during the war, he said. On July 7, 2019, Captain Batra's brother Vishal and Lt Gen Joshi as 14 Corps Commander then (the commanding officer of Vikram's unit, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles JAKRIF) and other officers from the unit, who all fought alongside Vikram Batra climbed the Batra Top, the spokesman said.

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PTI