Indian Navy's Commodore Jyotin Raina awarded Nao Sena Medal for response after Pulwama attack

An Indian Navy officer has been awarded the Nao Sena Medal for gallantry for his role in quick turnaround of naval warships in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and their deployment in the sea to deter the enemy in its own waters.

At least 40 jawans of paramilitary force - Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) - were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14, 2019 after a JeM suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus. 

Commodore Jyotin Raina ensured that the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet was “stood to” combat any misadventure by the adversary after the terror attack, a Navy statement said, ANI reported. 

Raina has been serving as Fleet Operations Officer (FOO) at Headquarters, Western Fleet, since December 28, 2018.

After the Pulwama attack, he "displayed outstanding operational application, constantly refining the deployment plans based on the developing operational situation, adapting and incorporating spatial and temporal considerations ensuring that the Western Fleet 'stood' to combat any misadventure by the adversary."

"The bold actions by the officer, to ensure the turnaround of own ships despite the presence of enemy submarines off own harbours, was based on conscientious planning and an intrinsic calculated risk-taking ability and was achieved through the formulation of an alternate routing ensuring the concurrent turnaround of WF ships at various ports, whilst maintaining continued presence off the Area of Operation and retaining absolute readiness of the Western Fleet towards the full range of maritime challenges," Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) citation for the officer reads. 

Twelve days after the Pulwama attack, India had launched airstrikes on Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26.