'Our party made enemy retreat'
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

Chandi Mandir, Aug 18 — " It is an unreal feeling when you are injured and alone with limited ammunition on a far flung snow covered peak waiting for the enemy to overrun your position. It is as if the time has stopped. Suddenly you hear the enemy approaching and there is no time to think. You feel a surge of adrenalin in your veins, the fingers curl around the gun trigger and a fusillade of bullets stops the enemy in its tracks, " reminisces Grenadier Ashok Kumar, 16 Grenadiers, who was part of the assault party which captured Saddle 5060 in the Dras sub-sector during Operation Vijay.

convalescing at the Western Command Hospital, he recalls the cold dark and windy night of July 24, when a small company of 22 men were assigned the task of capturing this strategic peak which straddles the Line of Control. The gallant 24 -year -old hails from Tigrana village in Bhiwani district of Haryana.

Narrating the sequence of events he said the peak was surrounded by enemy territory on three sides and it was vital for us to disrupt enemy supply lines to other peaks in the area. A small helicopter landing pad had also been constructed by the enemy which was being used to airdrop men and supplies in case of emergencies.

" Our party was briefed about the task at noon that day and was also made known to us that no enemy activity had been reported on this peak. We were also told that utmost caution had to be taken as the area could be mined.

We marched at about 9. 30 p.m. that night and were supported by artillery and air strikes between 7 pm. to 10 p.m. The progress was slow in view of the snow and darkness. we managed to reach the peak at about 4. 30 a.m. but could not spot any bunkers or other fortifications. We were ordered to secure the parameters and scan the nearby areas for any enemy movement.

I was assigned to dig in on the other side of the peak and as dawn broke could see a large enemy camp nearly 1 km beneath our position. There were eight to10 concrete huts and more than 50 tents. By this time they too had spotted us and heavy artillery shelling was brought upon us.

Though everyone had taken shelter under some rocks, many men were injured by shell splinters. Our artillery also opened up and began to take its toll on the enemy. This continued for more then five hours. During this time, I spotted two helicopters who brought more men and equipment to the camp.

The enemy started a frontal assault at about 3 p.m. on July 24. As many as 250 men began the ascent to our positions. There was no way to counter this move as they were out of range of our weapons. As soon as they were within our range, we opened up with all we had.

We took a toll on the enemy which was not only caught in the open but was finding it difficult to fire back in face of our precise firing. The enemy had to abandon the attack when they were just 50 m from our position. We, too, suffered casualties and five men were killed. The rest were injured. I was hit by a shell splinter but held on to my post. The injured took up position on a ridge below me.

The defence was so strong that the enemy did not attack.a mild attempt of the enemy was repulsed by me the next day. I lay bleeding the next day for another attack which never came. During the day, however, the enemy put up a white flag and carried away their dead, between 70 - 80 men, to their side of the LoC.

At this point his attendant, Grenadier Ajay Kumar, who was also in the same party, also arrived and narrated the sequence of events.

everybody fought like lions and that was the reason why only a handful of men repulsed the enemy, they added.

On July 27, another party came and replaced us. We are proud that we could do something for our country. This is ultimate honour for us, they added with a gleam in their eyes.