Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a former terrorist-turned-soldier will be awarded India’s highest peacetime gallantry medal, the Ashoka Chakra.
He laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Batagund village in Shopian in last November.
Wani, resident of Kulgam, belonged to the 162 Territorial Army Battalion. He has been a recipient of Sena Medal twice.
Wani was operating with the 34 Rashtriya Rifles on 23 November 2018, when they got information about presence of six heavily armed terrorists in Batagund village.
Nazir and his team were tasked to block the likely escape route of the terrorists and he eliminated one terrorist in a fierce exchange at close range
The 38-year-old then closed in on a house where another terrorist was hiding. As the terrorist tried to flee, Wani engaged him in hand-to-hand combat. Despite being wounded, he eliminated the terrorist. Wani succumbed to his injuries later in a military hospital
