Hailing from Satara in Maharashtra, Colonel Mahadik and his team was chasing a group of militants in the thick forests when they came under a barrage of firing.
Colonel Santosh Mahadik's name was enough to send shivers down the militants in the border district of Kupwara. A highly-decorated commando, Colonel Mahadik, commanding officer of the 41 Rashtriya Riffles (RR), led several anti-militant operations in his tenure before falling to the bullets at Manigah forest area on Tuesday.
Hailing from Satara in Maharashtra, Colonel Mahadik and his team was chasing a group of militants in the thick forests when they came under a barrage of firing.
Leading from the front, Colonel Mahadik fought bravely against the militants before he was hit by a bullet causing him grievous wounds. He was airlifted to the army's 92-base hospital in Srinagar where he succumbed to his wounds.
A trained commando of the elite 21 Para (Special Forces) of the Indian army, Colonel Mahadik had conducted several anti-terror operations thus breaking the backbone of the militants across the spectrum.
"Colonel Mahadik made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army. He was a true soldier and had conducted many successful counter-terrorist operations. Originally from the special forces, the officer was earlier awarded Sena Medal for exhibiting gallantry and leadership in counter terrorist operations," said Colonel NN Joshi, defence spokesman at Srinagar .
In fact, the operation against the militants in the forest area of Kupwara had been going on since Friday when the troops received inputs about the presence of heavily armed ultras in the jungles.
A joint operation was launched by army and the Jammu and Kashmir police to track down the ultras. In the initial gun fight two security forces personnel were injured.
On Tuesday, Colonel Mahadik led a group of troopers deep into the jungles to hunt down the hiding militants. As they were tightening the noose, militants opened fire in which two security force men including CO and a cop were injured. Later Colonel Mahadik died in the hospital.
Colonel Mahadik is survived by wife and two children aged eleven and five years. Lieutenant General DS Hooda, general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command expressed deep condolences on the loss of the brave officer.
"We owe a deep debt of gratitude to officers like Santosh who lead from the front and are willing to pay the ultimate price in the fight against terrorism," Lt Gen Hooda said.
Colonel Mahadik is the second top ranking army officer to die fighting militants this year. On January 27, Colonel Munindra Nath Rai, the commanding officer of 42 RR, was killed while leading an anti-terror operations in Tral area of south Kashmir. Colonel Rai died just a day after he was honoured with Yudh Seva Medal for his exemplary bravery in the war against militancy.
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