Kabul blast: Kirti Charka recomended for slain Indians

New Delhi, Jul 15 (UNI) The Ministry of Defence has recommended Kirti Chakra for Brig R D Mehta, IFS officer V V Rao and two ITBP jawans killed in the July 7 Kabul suicide attack.

Sources in the Defence Ministry said here that the recommendation has been forwarded to the President of India for her approval.

Political counsellor B V Rao, Defence attache Brig R D Menta and ITBP jawans Ajai Pathania and Roop Singh were the four Indian nationals killed in the suicide attack on the Indian mission in Kabul. The attack had also left 58 others dead.

Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle.

It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra. It is second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards; it comes after Ashoka Chakra and before Shaurya Chakra. Before 1967, the award was known as the Ashoka Chakra, Class II.

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