Col Panjab Singh, Vir Chakra awardee and a decorated veteran of the 1971, war passed away at the Command Hospital in Chandimandir, in Haryana on Monday due to post-COVID complications, the Army said on Tuesday. He was 79. Col. Singh had lost his elder son Anil Kumar to COVID-19 on May 21.
Born on February 15, 1942, Col. Singh was commissioned into the 6th Batallion of the Sikh Regiment on December16, 1967. He went on to command the Battalion from October 12, 1986 to July 29, 1990.
In the 1971 war, during Operation Cactus Lilly, the 6th Sikh occupied 13 kms of front on the heights above Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir covering two strategic points, the loss of which would have directly threatened Poonch. Col. Singh, then a Major, was commanding a company deployed at Tund which had been actually limited to a platoon with the company headquarters, an Army statement said.
The enemy attacked the position with more than a battalion on December 3, 1971, supported by artillery and mortar fire and came as close as few meters to the defences, the Army statement said.
“Col. Singh with complete disregard for his safety, moved from trench to trench and ensured that all weapons under his command engaged the assaulting force till the attacking force retreated leaving behind their dead and weapons,” the statement said. The enemy attacked the position nine times over two nights which were similarly foiled.
For this brave act, Col. Singh was awarded the third highest wartime gallantry award, the Vir Chakra, on December 24, 1971. After his retirement, Col. Singh was the Director of Sainik Welfare, Himachal Pradesh, and was also the Vice-President, Indian Ex-Service League, Himachal Pradesh of Southern area.
Col. Singh is survived by his wife Vidya Devi, daughter Usha, and son Ajay Kumar. The present commander of the Army’s 15 Corps in Kashmir, Lt. Gen. D.P. Pandey, is Col. Singh’s son-in-law.
