{{Short description|Ashoka Chakra recipient (1985–2011)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = [[Lieutenant]] | name = Navdeep Singh Shan | honorific_suffix = [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|AC]] | image = Lieutenant Navdeep Singh.jpg | image_size = 250 px | caption = | birth_name = Navdeep Singh | birth_date = {{birth date|1985|06|08}} | birth_place = [[Gurdaspur]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|08|20|1985|06|08|df=y}} | death_place = [[Killed in action|KIA]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu & Kashmir]] | nickname = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | allegiance = {{flag|India}} | branch = {{army|India}} | service_years = 2011 | rank = [[File:Lieutenant of the Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[Lieutenant]] | awards = [[File:Ashoka Chakra ribbon.svg|20px]] [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] | unit = [[Army Ordnance Corps (India)|Army Ordnance Corps]]<br /> [[Maratha Light Infantry]] | alma_mater = [[Officers Training Academy]], [[Chennai]]<br />[[Army Institute of Management]], [[Kolkata]] (M.B.A.)<br> [[Institute of Hotel Management]], [[Gurdaspur]] (B.Sc.) | battles = [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|Jammu and Kashmir Insurgency]] | spouse = }} [[Lieutenant]] '''Navdeep Singh Shan''', [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|AC]] was a [[Ghatak Force|Ghatak Platoon Commander]] of 15 [[Maratha Light Infantry]] [[regiment]] in the [[Indian Army]].<ref name=Confer>[http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=79890 President to Confer Ashoka Chakra on Lt. Navdeep Singh (Posthumous)], Press Information Bureau, 25-January 2012, pib.nic.in</ref>
He led an operation to ambush 17 well-trained and armed terrorists who infiltrated into [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] state. He killed 4 of the terrorists and brought an injured team member to safety before succumbing to fatal injury from close range. He was posthumously conferred the highest peacetime gallantry award of India [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] by [[President of India]] on the 63rd [[Republic Day (India)|Republic Day]].<ref name=theHindu/><ref name=tribune>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120126/jaltrib.htm Ashok Chakra to Lt Navdeep Singh posthumously], Jalandhar, 25 January 2012, tribuneindia.com</ref>
==Early life and education== {{Unreferenced section|date=October 2021}} Born in [[Gurdaspur]], to a [[Jat Sikh]] family Singh was a third-generation soldier to serve in the Indian Army. His grandfather was a [[junior commissioned officer]] while his father Joginder Singh served as [[Subedar-major]] in the [[Bengal Engineer Group|Bengal Sappers]] for 30 years and retired as Honorary [[Captain (armed forces)|Captain]]. He completed his schooling from Army Public School, Tibri and completed his graduation in [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc.]] in [[hotel management]] in 2006 from IHM-Gurdaspur and [[Postgraduate education|post-graduation]] in the [[Army Institute of Management, Kolkata]] in 2009, where he received his [[Master of Business Administration|MBA]] degree.
==Military career== Singh shunned a corporate career and instead joined the [[Officers Training Academy]] as a gentleman cadet. He was commissioned into the [[Army Ordnance Corps (India)|Army Ordnance Corps]], on 19 March 2011.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=2311 |date=31 December 2011|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2011/W_53_2012_048.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> As is the custom for all the non-fighting arms of the Indian Army, officers must complete an attachment of two years with an infantry battalion in a war or counter-insurgency theatre. For the duration of these two years, the officer, for all practical purposes, belongs to the said infantry battalion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Army must revisit skewed policies |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/army-must-revisit-skewed-policies-1502494707.html |website=The Statesman |date=19 September 2017}}</ref> Lieutenant Singh was attached to the 15 [[Maratha Light Infantry]] in Jammu & Kashmir in his first posting as a [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned officer]].<ref name=Navdeep>[http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-to-all-the-mothers-who-lost-their-sons-to-india/20120412.htm To all the mothers who lost their sons for India], Archana Masih, 12 April 2012, Gurdaspur, rediff.com</ref>
===Ambush=== On 20 August 2011, Singh planned and led the operation to kill or capture 17 armed terrorists in Gurez Sector of northern Kashmir. He set up an ambush for terrorists and ordered the team to not open the fire before he does. After waiting till terrorists were just meters away, he cornered the infiltrators before attack.<ref name=theHindu>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2832285.ece Navdeep Singh to be decorated with Ashok Chakra posthumously], Special Correspondent, NEW DELHI, 25 January 2012, thehindu.co.in</ref><ref name=Navdeep/><ref name="full honours">[https://archive.today/20130103185905/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-23/india/29917936_1_cremation-ground-infiltration-indian-army Lt Navdeep Singh cremated with full honours], Gourav Sally, TNN, 23 August 2011, indiatimes.com</ref><ref name=ashokchakra>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120128013753/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lt-navdeep-singh-awarded-ashok-chakra/224317-3.html Young Army officer gets Ashok Chakra posthumously], 26 January 2012, IBNLive.com</ref> He had positioned himself in least cover point and his team behind boulders, before attacking. He shot dead three terrorists when he was wounded in the head from about five meters' distance while trying to pull an injured soldier to safety. He nevertheless killed the fourth terrorist. He managed to pull his comrade-in-arms to safety and kept firing till death.<ref name=Confer/><ref name=OdishaToday>[http://www.odishatoday.com/viewnews.php?news_id=2475 Tears as Lieutenant Navdeep Singh gets posthumous Ashok Chakra for supreme sacrifice] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211021/http://www.odishatoday.com/viewnews.php?news_id=2475 |date=3 March 2016 }}, 26-Jan-2012, New Delhi, Odishatoday.com</ref>
The encounter lasted about 8 minutes in which 12 well-trained terrorists were killed. His body taken to 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.<ref name=Navdeep/>
== Ashok Chakra award citation == [[File:Pratibha Devisingh Patil conferred the Ashoka Chakra on Lieutenant Navdeep Singh (Posthumous) of the Army Ordnance Corps 15th Battalion, The Maratha Light Infantry, at the beginning of the 63rd Republic day celebrations.jpg|right|thumb|Navdeep Singh's father receives the Ashok Chakra from president Pratibha Patil on 26 January 2012.]] {{Blockquote|{{center| '''Ashoka Chakra''' '''SS-44448A Lieutenant Navdeep Singh''' '''Army Ordnance Corps / 15th Battalion the Maratha Light Infantry (posthumous)'''}}
Lieutenant Navdeep Singh was Ghatak Platoon Commander of 15 Maratha Light Infantry deployed in the High Altitude Area near the Line of Control.
On receiving information about the infiltration of a group of terrorists at about 0030 hours on 20 August 2011, the officer gauged the likely route of the terrorists and laid an ambush at the appropriate spot. When the terrorists were spotted, the ambush was sprung by the officer himself. An exchange of intense fire ensued. Leading from the front, the officer eliminated three terrorists at close range. On seeing another terrorist approaching their position, with utter disregard to his personal safety, the officer swiftly changed his firing position. While doing so, he got hit by a bullet on his head. He nevertheless managed to eliminate the fourth terrorist. Further, displaying utmost bravery and comradeship, he pulled an injured fellow soldier to safety and kept firing till he became unconscious due to excessive blood loss.
Lieutenant Navdeep Singh displayed his indomitable spirit, determination, and exceptional bravery while putting down the terrorists and making the supreme sacrifice for the nation.<ref name=Confer/>|sign=|source=}}
==Honors== Singh's body was brought to his hometown [[Gurdaspur]] the next day wrapped in the [[Flag of India|Indian flag]] in a military convoy. Mourners included people of his hometown, personnel from civil and army officers and soldiers from his [[regiment]] who gave him a guard of honor and the [[final salute]]. A state cabinet minister representing the chief minister laid a wreath on his body. He was cremated with full state and army honors amid crowd showering flowers and chanting "Navdeep Singh amar rahe".<ref name=Navdeep/><ref name="full honors">[https://archive.today/20130103185905/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-23/india/29917936_1_cremation-ground-infiltration-indian-army Lt Navdeep Singh cremated with full honors], Gourav Sally, TNN, 23 August 2011, indiatimes.com</ref>
He was awarded the [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] posthumously on the 63rd Republic Day by president of India [[Pratibha Patil]].<ref name=Navdeep/><ref name=OdishaToday/>
== In popular culture == * ''India's Most Fearless 2'' (2018), book by [[Shiv Aroor]] and Rahul Singh, features the true story{{according to whom|date=February 2023}} of fourteen Indian Army’ extraordinary officers. Singh's story is told in the chapter 3, "Fire When You Can See Their Faces".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aroor|first=Shiv|title=India's most fearless : more military stories of unimaginable courage and sacrifice. 2|publisher=[[Ebury Publishing|Penguin’s Ebury Publishing]]|others=Rahul Singh|year=2018|isbn=978-0-14-344315-5|location=Gurgaon, Haryana, India|pages=36–50|chapter=Fire When You Can See Their Faces|oclc=1107345859}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2023}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Ashoka Chakra award recipients}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Navdeep}} [[Category:1985 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)]] [[Category:Indian Army officers]] [[Category:People from Gurdaspur]] [[Category:Ashoka Chakra]] [[Category:Indian military personnel killed in action]]