Assam Rifles celebrates 33rd anniversary of Op ‘Dudhi’ in Nagaland

Kohima (Nagaland) [India] May 5 (ANI): Assam Rifles celebrated its 33rd anniversary of “Operation Dudhi’ in Nagaland’s Chumoukedima district, said an official statement on Sunday.

The Operation took place in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara on May 5, 1991.

Director General Assam Rifles Lt Gen Pradeep Chandran Nair was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

Talking to media persons, the Director General said that the event was essentially not just to commemorate but to celebrate the great Operation.

“This is a very unique operation which unfortunately is not well known as it should be,” he said and stated that it was the most successful Operation ever in counterinsurgency anywhere in the country.

Stating that since the operation took place many years back, it is not known to many, Nair said that he aimed to get more people involved in this Operation to bring them back to their platform where it can be celebrated and recognise the valour and bravery that they showed, as per the release.

“72 terrorists were neutralized, and 13 were apprehended and a total of 118 weapons (largely AK -47 series) were seized in this operation,” read the statement.

All the soldiers who had taken part in this operation were invited to Assam Rifles and once again felicitated. DG Nair presided over the event and interacted with retired Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (OR) who were part of the operation back in 1991, it added.

The operation led by Naib Subedar Padam Bahadur Chhetri and 14 Jawans was undertaken at the Dudhi post in the Chowkibal area in the initial days of the 1990s when Kashmir was hit by Pakistani terrorists.

The statement further added that two bravehearts rifleman Ram Kumar Arya from Uttarakhand and Rifleman Kameshwar Prasad from Bihar, made the supreme sacrifice during Operation Dudhi.

Chhetri was awarded the Kirti Chakra along with many other gallantry awards bestowed upon the members of the team for their outstanding performance which included one Shurya Chakra, two sena medals, one GOC-in-C Northern Command Commendation card and nine Director General Commendation Cards, It added. (ANI)