The Battle Axe Sappers’ Next of Kin Outreach Cycle Expedition reached Vellore and started its next leg of tour towards Krishnagiri and Bengaluru on Tuesday. The expedition was flagged off under the aegis of Battle Axe Division from Jaisalmer military station on January 23.
The team, led by Captain Narendra Panchal, reached out to various interior locations of the five Southern states as majority of troops of the Battle Axe Sappers hail from these places — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — covering a distance of 1,401km in these districts.
Participants said that it was part of the golden jubilee of Lieutenant Colonel O.P. Bahi, the first commandant officer of the Jaisalmer regiment, taking over charge. The team already covered Jodhpur, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Secunderabad, Warangal, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, meeting families of ex-servicemen and youth. The team would reach Jaisalmer on February 17 and they are planning to cover Krishnagiri, Bengaluru, Kollam, Cherthala, Aluva, Jodhpur and Pokhran. The team aims at educating the ‘Veer Naris’, next of kin of battle and physical casualty soldiers about grants and benefits entitled to them. They also conducted awareness programmes for schoolchildren and youth to join the Indian Army, thus garnering goodwill for the armed forces.
