Kargil War Hero, the ‘Lion of Ladakh’ Col Sonam Wangchuk passes away at 61

Maha Vir Chakra awardee Col Sonam Wangchuk, 61, died of a heart attack at his home in Leh, Ladakh. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh condoled the death of the Kargil War hero, the Indian Army too has offered condolence. The late Col Wangchuk was awarded India’s second highest gallantry award for his role in the less talked about Batalik Sector during Operation Vijay.

During the Kargil War, then Major Sonam Wangchuk led a daring mission in the Batalik sector, on the remote Chorbat ridge. The ridge is roughly mid-way between Kargil and Turtuk, and the 18,000 high watershed also separates these two locations. The area was also a critical logistics hub which supplied the areas opposite Batalik sector to the South East and the areas opposite the Turtuk sector to its South West. The Pakistanis had established a strong presence in this area ahead of the conflict.On 28th May 1999, then Major Sonam Wangchuk, who was then posted with the Ladakh Scouts, was tasked to set up an observation post at a strategic point on Chorbat La. The officer led a small team of a JCO and three jawans, they came in contact with four Pakistani soldiers and killed two of them in an engagement, while the other two escaped.The brave officer was then tasked to reinforce a post that was expecting an attack from Pakistani forces. The officer moved all night to reinforce the post, he along with 12 others reinforced the post. The Pakistanis shelled the post for six hours and then launched a failed attack on the post. After this the brave officer attacked a feature near the observation post killing six enemy soldiers. Two posts ‘Sonam 1’ and ‘Sonam 2 ‘ in the Batalik sector are named in his honour. For these series of sustained heroic actions, then Major Wangchuk was decorated with India’s second highest gallantry award in wartime.In 2017, President Rajnath Kovind had released a documentary titled ‘Lion of Ladakh‘ on how he and the soldiers under his command captured Pakistani positions, under very difficult circumstances.Besides serving in the Kargil War, Col Wangchuk, who was commissioned into the Assam Regiment, had served in insurgency hit Manipur. He was also deployed in Sri Lanka as part of Operation Pawan.