NEW DELHI: Bravery came easy to Colonel Munindra Nath Rai. It ran in his family, with both elder brothers having received gallantry awards. Just a day after being named on Republic Day for the Yudh Seva Medal, Colonel ‘Munna’ Rai was leading his troops against heavily-armed militants in Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday.
It was the officer’s last battle. Colonel Rai, a 2/9 Gorkha Rifles officer who was commanding 42 Rashtriya Rifles, and J&K police head constable Sanjeevan Singh laid down their lives in the fierce encounter, which led to the killing of two Hizbul Mujahideen militants at Handora village of Tral in south Kashmir.
Officers said Col Rai — survived by wife Priyanka, daughters Alka (12) and Richa (9), and son Aditya (7) — was not someone who rested on his laurels. His name may have been announced for the YSM on Monday but he “strongly believed in always leading from the front”.
Police identified the militants killed in the encounter as Hizb district commander Abid Ahmed Khan and his associate, Shiraz Dar.
