Prez awards Garud commando killed in Kashmir with Ashok Chakra
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind Friday awarded India’s highest peacetime military decoration Ashok Chakra posthumously to IAF Garud commando Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala, who was killed during a gunfight with militants in Kashmir.
The award was received by Corporal Nirala’s wife Sushmanand and his mother Malti Devi at the majestic Rajpath.
After presenting the award, Kovind was seen wiping his face and eyes with his handkerchief.
Corporal Nirala was part of a Garud Special Forces Unit of the Indian Air Force, a detachment of which was attached to a Rashtriya Rifles battalion under the aegis of ‘Op Rakshak’ in Jammu and Kashmir.
On November 18 last year, an offensive was launched in Chanderger village of Bandipora district based on specific intelligence. The Garud detachment covertly approached the target house where the militants were hiding and laid a close quarter ambush. PTI
