Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Vasanth Venugopal, AC (25 March 1967 – 31 July 2007) was an

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

officer. He was the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 9th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry. On 31 July 2007, he was killed in action while preventing heavily armed infiltrators from crossing the India-Pakistan border at

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

. As a result he was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest military decoration for peacetime gallantry.

Early life

Born to Praphulla and N.K. Venugopal in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Vasanth Venugopal was the youngest of two brothers. His father's work required the family to travel throughout the state of Karnataka and Vasanth went to schools in

Udupi Udupi (alternate spelling Udipi; also known as Odipu) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Udupi is situated about north of the educational, commercial and industrial hub of Mangalore and about west of state capital Bangalore by road. ...

Shimoga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of ...

and Bangalore. He graduated from MES College, Bangalore in 1988. While in college, he was a member of the

National Cadet Corps National Cadet Corps may refer to: *Bangladesh National Cadet Corps *National Cadet Corps (Ghana) *National Cadet Corps (India) *National Cadet Corps (Pakistan) *National Cadet Corps (Singapore) *National Cadet Corps (Sri Lanka) The National ...

, through which he participated in th
Indo-Canada World Youth Exchange Programme
of 1986-87.

Military career

Venugopal started training at the Indian Military Academy,

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

in 1988. On 10 June 1989, he was commissioned into the 9th battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry as a second lieutenant. He was promoted lieutenant on 10 June 1991 and to captain on 10 June 1994. On 14 January 2000, Venugopal was promoted major, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 16 December 2004. In a military career spanning eighteen years, he served in

Pathankot Pathankot is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the 6th most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal cor ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

, Gandhinagar,

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

and various sectors of

. "I go where my men go", he told his mother when she asked him if a colonel should participate in all operations conducted by his men. On 28 October 2006 he took over as the commanding officer of the 9th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry. The battalion was at that time posted in

. On July 31 2007, he and his troops surrounded militants in a forest and blocked all their escape routes in the Uri sector in Kashmir. Despite being wounded, the colonel and his men engaged the terrorists in a fierce encounter. The daring officer led from the front and helped gun down the terrorists. He and radio operator L/Nk Bachhav Shashikant Ganpat were shot and died in hospital. "He ensured that all eight infiltrators were wiped out even as he laid down his life for the nation. He was a true soldier who was dedicated to the country and his force", Gen.

Joginder Jaswant Singh General Joginder Jaswant Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC (born 17 September 1945) is an Indian politician and former Army Chief. He was the 21st Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army. He was appointed on 27 November 2004, and took ove ...

, Chief of Army Staff at the time, said after Venugopal's death.

Honours and legacy

Col. Venugopal was cremated with full military honours on 1 August 2007 in

. He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration for gallantry awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. Colonel Vasanth is the first person from the state of

to have received this honour. Venugopal's biography ''Forever Forty'', written by his wife Subhashini Vasanth and Veena Prasad was released by Gen. Joginder Jaswant Singh and

Santosh Hegde Nitte Santosh Hegde (born 16 June 1940) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, former Solicitor General of India and was Lokayukta (ombudsman) for Karnataka State of India from 2006 to 2011. Early life Santosh Hegde was born in a Tulu ...

on 10 July 2011 at Crossword Bookstore, Bangalore.

References

External links

Rediff.com - A few good menVasantharatna Foundation for Art - A foundation run in Colonel Vasanth Venugopal's memory by his wife Mrs Subhashini Vasanth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venugopal, Vasanth Indian Army officers 1967 births 2007 deaths Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) Ashoka Chakra