Mariappan Saravanan

1 Bihar was in Assam when the Kargil War broke out. They were ordered to move to Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir. On the night of 28 May 1999, Major Saravanan was assigned the task of capturing a well-fortified Pakistani position at 14,229 feet (4,337 m) in the Batalik sector. He and his men launched an attack at 04:00 IST. Despite intensive firing from the enemy with artillery and automatic weapons, they charged into a volley of bullets. Saravanan fired a rocket launcher into the enemy position that killed two enemy soldiers. During the combat, he was hit by shrapnel and injured but continued fighting. His commanding officer ordered him to retreat because too many Indian soldiers had been injured. He killed two more invaders but this time he was hit by a bullet in the head and died at around 06:30 IST.

The Vir Chakra was awarded to Saravanan posthumously and presented to his mother by President K. R. Narayanan. It reads:[2]

Gazette Notification: 113Pres/98,15-8-99

Operation: –

Date of Award: 15 Aug 1999

Citation:
Major M Saravanan was the Company Commander of one of the companies of 1 Bihar launched in the battalion attack on Point 4268 In the Batalik sector during "Operation Vijay” While moving forward to eliminate the last position held by the enemy, Major Saravanan was fired upon by the enemy with a heavy volume of small arms fire. Unmindful of the enemyfire, he crawled forward to destroy the last remaining enemy position and before being fatally hit by an enemy bullet, killed two enemy soldiers.

Major M Saravanan displayed exceptional bravery, valour and exemplary leadership, fighting from front, destroying two enemy sagars and killing few enemy soldiers before laying his life for the motherland and in the process eliminating an important enemy position.