Balwan Singh Panghal

Balwan Singh Panghal was born in Sasrauli village in Jhajjar District of Haryana.

Lt. Balwan Singh, an alumnus of Sainik School Kunjpura, was commissioned from the OTA on 06 March 1999 into 18 Grenediers. The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) was awarded to him for his acts of bravery in Kargil war.

Lieutenant Balwan Singh and his Ghataks were tasked to assault Tiger Hill Top on 03 July 1999 as part of multi-pronged attack from the North East direction.

The route to the objective was untrodden, interspersed with pointed rocks and thick snow at a height of 16,500 feet. The officer executed his task with courage and determination.

The team led and exhorted by him moved over twelve hours under intense artillery shelling to reach the designated spur. This move took the enemy totally by surprise as his team used cliff assault mountaineering equipment to reach the Tiger Hill Top stealthily.

On seeing the Ghataks, the enemy reacted in panic with intense automatic fire causing serious injury to the officer and his team.

He refused to be evacuated and unmindful of his injury and grave condition, moved swiftly to encircle the intruders. His adversaries had no choice but to flee from the fury of accurate fire of the Ghataks.

The officer’s unparalleled courage under enemy fire and determination led to capturing Tiger Hill, the most important objective of our troops in Operation Vijay.

LOC Kargil by JP Dutta is based on the same story, Akshay Khanna played him in the film. Dutta met with Balwan for the details of the encounter in Mumbai.

Two years after the historic triumph, Balwan Singh married Yamuna, the daughter of an advocate in Jhajjar