Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Ashutosh Sharma, SM & two bars (died 2 May 2020) was an

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

officer. He was the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the 21st battalion,

Rashtriya Rifles The Rashtriya Rifles (RR; ) is a counter-insurgency force in India, formed in 1990, to deal with internal security in the Jammu and Kashmir (region), Jammu and Kashmir region. They maintain public order by drawing powers from the Armed Forces ...

. On 2 May 2020, he was

martyred in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, say ...

while leading encounter in

Handwara Handwara ( ; ) is a town in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located on Baramulla-Handwara National Highway NH-701 and is governed by a municipal committee. Handwara is known for its high-quality walnuts, which are a major ...

in the

Kupwara district Kupwara district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mentio ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. He was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry three times, the first bar to the Sena Medal being awarded a few months before his death and the second bar posthumously.

Early life and education

Sharma was born in

Bulandshahr Bulandshahr, formerly Baran, is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bulandshahr district and part of Delhi NCR region. According to the Governme ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

to Shambhu Dutt Pathak, a soil conservation officer, and Sudha Sharma. The family hailed from the Parwana Mahmodpur village of Aurangabad area in Bulandshahr. He completed his schooling and graduation in Bulandshahr and attended the DAV Inter College. Sharma wanted to join the Indian Army from a young age and attempted to join for over six years. He was successful in his thirteenth attempt and joined the

Officers Training Academy The Officers Training Academy (OTA) is a training establishment of the Indian Army that trains officers for the Short Service Commission (SSC). The 49-week course at the OTA prepares graduates for all branches of the Army, except for the Army Me ...

(OTA),

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. At OTA, he was part of the hockey team and represented the academy at the Inter Academy Games held at

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

(IMA),

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Military career

Sharma graduated from OTA, Chennai (SSC - 72), and was commissioned into the 19th battalion,

Brigade of the Guards The Brigade of The Guards is a mechanised infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was raised as the first "all India", "all class" infantry unit of the Army where troops from all parts of India serve together, as opposed to other regiments that ...

on 1 September 2001. In his two decades of service in the Army, he was a part of multiple successful

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

operations in

. Sharma was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry on 26 January 2018. In 2019, he shot, at close range, a terrorist who was rushing towards his men and personnel of the

Jammu and Kashmir Police The Jammu and Kashmir Police is the police force of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Jammu and Kashmir. History The first ...

with a hidden grenade, preventing him front harming them. For this action, on 15 August 2019, when serving as the commanding officer of the 21st battalion, Rashtriya Rifles, he was awarded the bar to Sena Medal. On 2 May 2020, intelligence reports were received indicating the presence of terrorists inside a house in the Changimulla village near Handwara. The civilians were held hostage. Sharma launched a

cordon and search Cordon and search is a military tactic to cordon off an area and search the premises for weapons or insurgents. It is one of the basic counterinsurgency operations. Two types of cordon and search operations are cordon and knock Sharma was the first commanding officer in the last five years to have lost his life in an encounter.

Honours and legacy

Sharma was cremated with full military honours on 5 May 2020 in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. The

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Ashok Gehlot Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1998 to December 2003, then again from 2008 to December 2013, and later from 2018 to December 2023. He represents Sardarpura (Vidhan Sabha ...

, Deputy Chief Minister

Sachin Pilot Captain Sachin Rajesh Pilot (born 7 September 1977) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress, he has been serving as Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Tonk since 2018. He has previously served as Minister ...

and the

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

South Western Command,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Alok Singh Kler Lieutenant General Alok Singh Kler, PVSM, VSM, ADC is a retired General Officer in the Indian Army who last served as General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Command. He assumed office on 1 September 2019, taking over from L ...

paid their respects to the brave-heart and offered condolences to his family. Also present were the Member of Parliament

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (born 29 January 1970) is an Indian politician, Olympic medallist in shooting and retired colonel in the Indian Army. He is serving as a cabinet minister at the Industry & Commerce, Youth Affairs & Sports Department ...

Pratap Singh Khachariyawas Pratap Singh Khachariyawas (प्रताप सिंह खाचरियावास; born 16 May 1969) is an Indian National Congress politician, who was former Cabinet Minister of Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer affairs in Government ...

, Minister for Ex- Servicemen Welfare Rajasthan and the

Commissioner of Police A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

and the

District Collector The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

of Jaipur. In the 2021 Republic Day honours list, Sharma was posthumously decorated with the second bar to the sena medal.

Personal life

Sharma was married to Pallavi Sharma and the couple had a daughter, Tamanna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Ashutosh 1975 births 2020 deaths Indian Army officers Recipients of the Sena Medal People from Bulandshahr