New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind Friday awarded India’s highest peacetime military decoration Ashok Chakra posthumously to IAF Garud commando Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala, who was killed in a gunfight with militants in Jammu and Kashmir.
The award was received by Corporal Nirala’s wife Sushmanand and his mother Malti Devi at the majestic Rajpath. After presenting the award, Kovind was seen wiping his face and eyes with his handkerchief.
Corporal Nirala was part of a Garud Special Forces Unit of the Indian Air Force, a detachment of which was attached to a Rashtriya Rifles battalion under the aegis of ‘Op Rakshak’ in Jammu and Kashmir.
The corporal was killed on November 18 last year during a gunfight with militants in Chanderger village of Bandipora district.
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