Operation Randori Behak: Indian Army commandos who made the supreme sacrificed remembered

One of the Indian Army’s most successful counter-terror strikes was Operation Randori Behak which began on April 1, 2020. It was three days before special forces commandos were called in to flush out the terrorists hiding in Kupwara. Soldiers deployed in the battalion manning the defences of Kupwara repeatedly picked up and lost track of the terrorists as they infiltrated across the Line of Control (LOC).

The troops began to trail the terrorists at 4:30 PM on April 3, 2020, and did so again at 6:30 PM on April 4. Then Subedar Sanjiv Kumar, Havildar Devendra Singh, Paratrooper Chhatrapal Singh, Paratrooper Bal Krishnan and Paratrooper Amit Kumar of 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, (Special Forces) were deployed in to flush out the terrorists and finish the operation as soon as possible. On April 5, around dawn, while tracking the terrorists, the five commandos of 4 Parachute ventured onto cornice, an overhanging patch of hardened snow with no underlying support.

A fierce gun battle broke out between the soldiers and the terrorists at an extremely close quarters. The other two soldiers who hastened to the scene of the fighting after spotting their companions under heavy fire. In the ensuing heavy exchange of fire, the para commandos led by Subedar Sanjeev Kumar managed to eliminate all the five terrorists.

About Operation Randori Behak

In April 2020, Sub Sanjeev Kumar’s unit was deployed in the Kashmir valley for counter-insurgency operations. On April 1, 2020, the army began "Operation Randori Behak" based on information from intelligence sources about a terrorist infiltration attempt in the Kupwara region. The soldiers deployed in the Karen sector repeatedly picked up and lost track of the terrorists as they infiltrated the Line of Control (LOC).

On April 3 the troops picked up the trail at 04:30 pm and again at 06:30 PM a day later. It was then decided to launch a commando operation by para-dropping special forces soldiers near the suspected area.

Sub Sanjiv Kumar, Hav Devendra Singh, Ptr Chhatrapal Singh, Paratrooper Bal Krishnan and Paratrooper Amit Kumar became part of this operation. 

Sub Kumar was tasked to lead the operation. The suspected area was snow-covered and inaccessible, so the assault team was planned to be air-dropped to maintain an element of surprise in the operation.

Three team members were thrown into a nullah as a result of the hardened snow under the soldiers' feet giving way at one point as they were trudging along the snow-covered path. However, after falling, the soldiers arrived at a location very close to the terrorists' hiding spot.

Due to it being combat at close quarters, the soldiers too received multiple gunshots and were seriously injured and killed in the battle zone. The other two soldiers were airlifted to a nearby military hospital but succumbed to their injuries. Subedar Sanjeev Kumar and other paratroopers received peacetime gallantry awards for their selfless service, courage, devotion to duty and supreme sacrifice.