Mukund Varadarajan

Major Mukund Varadarajan AC (12 April 1983 – 25 April 2014) was an officer in the Rajput Regiment of the Indian Army. In 2014, he was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award, for killing three terrorists in an encounter at the Shupiyan district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Personal life
Major Mukund Varadarajan was born on 12 April 1983 to R.Varadarajan and Geetha. He lived in Chennai, India and had two sisters Swetha and Nithya. Mukund married his longtime girlfriend Indhu Rebecca Varghese on 28 August 2009. and have a daughter Ashreya born on 17 March 2011. He received his Bachelor of Commerce From Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya at Enathur and a diploma in journalism from the Madras Christian College, Tambaram. His grandfather and two of his uncles also served in the army and this motivated Varadarajan to enlist.

Earlier Service
Mukund was an alumnus of Officers Training Academy, and after graduating, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Rajput Regiment (22 Rajput) in 2006. He served at the Infantry School in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh and was part of a United Nations Mission in Lebanon. In December 2012, he was deputed to the 44th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles and posted in the Shupiyan district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Martyrdom
On 25 April 2014, he led an anti-terrorist search operation to clear village of terrorists. During the operation, his team came under heavy fire. The officer responded swiftly, and killed three terrorists of the Hizbul Mujahideen who were responsible for killing election officials 24 hours earlier. However, he was gravely injured during the assault and was evacuated but he died due to the injuries.

For his brave actions during the operation, he was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award in 2014, for displaying valor beyond the call of duty. The citation by the Government of India during the declaration of the Ashok Chakra read:

"During the operation, before attaining martyrdom, Major Mukund displayed exemplary leadership skills, raw courage, planning and swift action, which culminated in the elimination of the three top ranked Hizbul Mujaheddin terrorists."

Mukund is the fourth recipient of the Ashoka Chakra from the state of Tamil Nadu.