Mukund Varadarajan

Mukund Varadarajan, AC (12 April 1983 – 25 April 2014) was an Indian Army officer. He was a commissioned officer in the Indian Army's Rajput Regiment. He was killed in action during a counter terrorism operation while on deputation to the 44th Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Jammu and Kashmir. He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime decoration, for his actions.

Born in 1983 in a Tamil family in Kozhikode, Mukund completed his college in 2004 before joining the Officers Training Academy of the Indian Army. He was commissioned as lieutenant in 2006, and was promoted to captain in October 2008. He served at the Infantry school in Mhow and was part of a United Nations mission in Lebanon. He was later promoted to the rank of major in 2012 and was deputed to the 44th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles.

In June 2013, Mukund killed Altaf Baba, then commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed in South Kashmir, when a group of terrorists attacked Mukund's army convoy. On 25 April 2014, Mukund led his team to Qazipathri in Southern Kashmir, to engage with Altaf Wani, who had replaced Altaf Baba as the local commander of the terrorists in the region. Wani and two terrorists had killed electoral officers during the 2014 Indian general election. Mukund and sepoy Vikram Singh killed all the three terrorists in the ensuing gunfight. However, both the army men were also killed in the battle.

On 1 June 2015, a bust of Mukund was unveiled at the premises of the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. In 2024, a Tamil biographical film '' Amaran'', which was based on his life, was released.

Early and personal life

Mukund Varadarajan was born on 12 April 1983 in a Tamil family to R Varadarajan and Geetha Varadarajan in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. Mukund and his family moved to Tambaram in Chennai after his father got job in Indian Overseas Bank. Mukund received his Bachelor of Commerce From Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya at Kanchipuram and a diploma in journalism from the Madras Christian College. He worked at a BPO center for sometime before he decide to join the Indian Armed Forces. His grandfather Raghavachari and two of his uncles also served in the Indian Army and this motivated him to join the Armed Forces.

Mukund had two siblings. He married Indhu Rebecca Varghese in 2009, and the couple have a daughter.

Career

Mukund joined the Officers Training Academy in Chennai in 2004. After graduating, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Rajput Regiment on 18 March 2006. On 18 March 2006, he was granted a regular commission with the rank of lieutenant, and received an ante-dated promotion to Captain from 18 October 2008. He served at the Infantry school in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh and was part of a United Nations Mission in Lebanon. He was promoted to Major on 18 October 2012 and was deputed to the 44th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.

In June 2013, Mukund and his convoy was attacked by terrorists led by Altaf Baba, the commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed in South Kashmir, near an apple orchard in Shopian district. While several of the Indian army men were hurt, Mukund managed to kill Baba with the help of his aide Sepoy Vikram Singh. After the event, Mukund was focused on cracking the communication codes used by the terrorists. As per his commanding officer Amit Singh Dabas, he worked with the electronic warfare unit at Srinagar on the same. Based on the cracked codes, it was evident that the terrorists were using a safe house in Qazipathri village while transiting from Shopian to the Yarwan forest area.

Qazipathri operation

On 25 April 2014, at around 14:30 IST, intelligence reports indicated the presence of three terrorists including a foreigner in the safe house in Qazipathri in Southern Kashmir. One of the terrorists was Altaf Wani, who had replaced Altaf Baba as the local commander of the terrorists in the region. The other two were terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba. The terrorists had targeted electoral officers the previous day, and killed one of the officers. Mukund led his team for a cordon and search operation, and reached the location at 15:00. The twelve men team was split into six pairs of two men each and assigned specific roles. The compound consisted of a two storey brick house surrounded by orchards, and two outhouses. Mukund tasked his team to remove the civilians from the area.

At about 17:00 hrs, Mukund and his team came under heavy fire from the terrorists, who were holed inside the house. At around 17:30, Mukund, who was paired with sepoy Vikram Singh, lobbed a improvised explosive device into the terrorists' hiding, and following a heavy firing, one of the terrorists was killed. When the other two terrorists returned fire, Mukund was injured in his forearm. When the army men retaliated, the remaining two terrorists including Wani moved to an outhouse in the compound. Mukund lobbed a grenade into the outhouse, killing one of the terrorists. Wani, who hid behind a stack of wooden logs, returned fire, thereby killing Vikram Singh. In the ensuing firefight, Mukund killed Wani, while also being hit by some of the bullets shot by Wani. The bodies of the three terrorists were recovered later.

Ranks

Death and aftermath

Mukund, who had sustained three bullet injuries during the operation in Kashmir, was bleeding profusely. He told to one of his team members that they got Wani, but lost Vikram in the process. He also remarked that, "And I got hit too. I can’t believe it." As per Dabas' instructions, he was to be moved to the government hospital in Pulwama for initial treatment, and was planned to be shifted to Srinagar for further treatment. However, he succumbed to his injuries enroute to the hospital. His body was shifted to Chennai on 27 April, and was kept at the Officers Training Academy for public viewing. His body was cremated with full state honours on 28 April. Dabas later wrote a letter to his wife, in which he remarked,

Legacy

On 15 August 2014, Mukund was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award in 2014. It was presented to his wife Indu by then president Pranab Mukherjee on 26 January 2015. His award commendation read as "(for showing) exemplary leadership skills, raw courage and swift action." On 1 June 2015, a bust of Mukund was unveiled at the premises of the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. It was further cited that:

The 2015 Malayalam film '' Picket 43'' was dedicated to Mukund, who had been assisting the film crew during production. In 2024, a Tamil film, '' Amaran'', a biopic based on Mukund's life, was released. Sivakarthikeyan portrayed Mukund in the film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varadarajan, Mukund
1983 births
2014 deaths
Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)
Indian Army personnel
Military personnel from Tamil Nadu
Madras Christian College alumni
Ashoka Chakra
Indian military personnel killed in action