A lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army, who had been in a coma since November 2015 after sustaining gunshot injuries in an anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir, has died in a Jalandhar hospital, officials said on Tuesday.
The Patahirri Garrison in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district paid rich tributes to the officer, Lt Colonel K S Natt, earlier in the day. Officers and troops of the Kupwara Terriers unit laid wreaths at its war memorial and observed a two-minute silence to honour his sacrifice.
Natt was posted with the 160 Infantry Battalion of the Territorial Army at the time of the encounter in November 2015. He was leading a combing operation against terrorists holed up in a densely forested area of Manigah in Kupwara when he was injured, they said.
“During the search, the officer along with his party approached the location of the terrorists. Suddenly, he was charged by a fidayeen and grievously injured. However, despite his injuries and without any concern for his safety, he advanced towards the terrorist’s location and eliminated him,” an official said.
He said the officer was evacuated from the encounter site on priority to 168 MH Drugmulla, and after being treated at the 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar and the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi, he was shifted to the Military Hospital (MH) Jalandhar, where he had been comatose since 2015. He passed away on December 24.
“In line with the armed forces’ rich legacy of honouring its fallen heroes, Kupwara Terriers organised a wreath-laying ceremony at Patahirri Garrison, Kupwara, to commemorate and honour the sacrifice and martyrdom of Late Lt Col K S Natt,” he said.
Natt was originally commissioned as a Short Service Commission Officer in the Brigade of Guards in 1998. He served in the regular Army for 14 years before being relieved in 2012.
He joined the Territorial Army following the completion of his service as a Short Service Commission Officer.
