Major M Sarvanan,VIR CHAKRA (kargil war)

Maj Sarvanan died after killing 10 HT Correspondent (New Delhi, July 10)
Major M Sarvanan, the hero of Batalik, was finally among friends. Martyred on May 29 after wresting two bunkers from the enemy, Maj Sarvanan’s mortal remains lay out of the reach of his men until July 3. All this while members of 1 Bihar, his unit, fought valiantly and desperately, having taken an oath to not only recover his body but also the Indian heights from the infiltrators. Success was theirs on July 3 when they brought the hero home. Maj Sarvanan had led a platoon up the Jubar Hills on May 29. While he was able to take back two bunkers the rest of Jubar Hills was under enemy control. One of the platoon members accompanying Maj Sarvanan and the only one to survive the attack, was Naik Shatrughan. He was hit on his legs three times and it took him ten days to crawl back to base. He gave the unit the information of how Maj Sarvanan died after killing at least four of the enemy in hand-to -hand combat. Naik Shatrughan later died in the field hospital because of gangrene. Maj Sarvanan is possibly the first officer to fall in the Kargil conflict. The attack led by him came in the early stages of the conflict when adequate information was not available. There was little artillery support and no aircraft cover. The men in 1 Bihar took an oath after Maj Sarvanan’s death to fight to the finish and recover the heights. to the battle cry of ‘Bajrang Bali ki Jai’, they launched subsequent offensives and now the unit has not only taken the heights but is sitting atop the LoC. Yesterday they captured Point 4058. Since the news of Maj Sarvanan's death reached his family— he is an only son—they have been waiting for his mortal remains. The body will be flown to Trichy tomorrow. Along with Maj Sarvanan, two other bodies were recovered. These are of Naik Ganesh Prasad and Sep Pramod Kumar. The wreath laying ceremony was conducted today at Delhi Cantonment.

Nation's third highest wartime gallentry award VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Mariappan Sarvanan on 15th August 1999