Body of Martyr Capt Chaudhary Flown to Pathankot

New Delhi, Jan 28 (UNI) The body of Capt Sunil Kumar Chaudhary, martyred yesterday in a counter-insurgency operation against the ULFA in Assam, was flown this morning in a special aircraft from Dibrugarh to Pathankot -- his hometown.

Capt SK Chaudhary, SM, was martyred a little after noon yesterday in a counter-insurgency operation in Village Barapathar (Tinsukia), Assam. In this operation the brave officer had killed two militants of the 28 Battalion of ULFA even after being shot in his neck. He later succumbed to injuries.

Capt Chaudhary was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry in the awards announced on the occasion of Republic Day 2008. The award was for an operation in Nabjothi (Tinsukia) in July last year in which two militants including self-styled Sgt Palash Moni, an Action Group Commander of ULFA, were killed.

Capt Chaudhary was son of a serving Army Officer, Lt Col PL Chaudhary, and his brother Ankur is a flying officer in the Indian Air Force. He belonged to New Colony, Govindsar, Kathua, in Jammu&Kashmir. He had his early education at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bangalore, graduated from Pune and had done his post-graduation from Garhwal University.

Capt Chaudhary was commissioned from IMA, Dehradun into the 7/11 Gorkha Rifles on December 10, 2004. He had excelled in Platoon Weapons and Machine Gun courses at the Infantry School, Mhow. Before moving to counter-terrorism operations, he was posted at Kolkata.

The cremation of the brave officer will take place at Kathua with full military honours, an official spokesperson here said.

UNI DG DS KP1535