Colonel (retd) Ravindranath (left) and Major (retd) Bhanwar Singh Rathore take a salute at the wreath-laying ceremony in Ranchi on Monday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, June 29: The Kargil heroes were paid a rich tribute today by the 2 Rajputana Rifles battalion posted in the capital as a part of Operation Vijay celebrations.

A wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the Army War Memorial at Dipatoli on the occasion. Retired armyman Colonel Ravindranath, who had commanded the troops in the war and was in-charge of the squad that won the famous Tololing and Three Pimple tops, also attended the event.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Ravindranath said: “Though a decade has passed since the Kargil war, the memory is so fresh that it seems that it was only last week when our boys had secured the two points occupied by Pakistani raiders.”

Recollecting those terror-filled days, the warrior said: “The enemy had fortified itself with weapons and equipment. They had built sangads (stone embankments) around them which secured them from gunfire while they already had an advantage of height.”

“The 2 Rajputana Rifles was based at Kupwara, about 200km from Dras, where other battalions were already engaging the enemy troops. The battalion reached Dras on June 1, 1999, and we first surveyed the area. The unit had no idea about what lay ahead,” he added.

“The 2 Rajputana Rifles men took five days to prepare for the assault on Tololing. Retired Major Bhanwar Singh Rathore of the 2 Rajputana Rifles was assigned the task of supplying resources and ammunition to create a fire base (ammunition dump). Thereafter, an offensive was launched and Bofors artillery guns were used to open fire on the raiders while our boys climbed the feature,” he said.

“The men will always be remembered for their valour,” he added on a sombre note.