Puneet Nath Datt

2nd. Lt. Puneet Nath Datt (29 April 1973 20 July 1997), was an officer of the Indian Army's 11 Gorkha Rifles.

He belonged to the Muhiyal community and was posthumously awarded India's highest peace-time gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra[1] for bravery displayed in an operation conducted against foreign terrorists hidden in a three-storey building in the Naushera area of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.[2]

Family

Consistent with the tradition of military service among Muhiyal Brahmins,[3] 2nd. Lt. Puneet Nath Datt's family included other soldiers as well. His father Major Pramod Nath Datt also served in the Gorkha Rifles and was the reason Puneet Nath Datt was inspired to join the same regiment. His grandfather Col. S.N.C Bakshi also served in the Indian Army while his uncle V.K.C Bakhshi was a Commander in the Indian Navy. The posthumous Ashok Chakra was received on his behalf by his mother Mrs. Anita Datt, from the President of India on 26 January 1998, India's Republic Day.

References

  1. Ashok Chakra Winners
  2. Article on 2nd Lt. Puneet Nath Datt at Bharat Rakshak, Unofficial Website of the Indian Armed Forces
  3. The history of the Muhiyals: The militant Brahman race of India, by T. P. Rusell Stracey ,Lahore,1911
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