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A fake army officer at six he rose to be a genuine hero - The Times of India

Dinesh Kumar ()
17 August 1997

Title: From a fake army officer at six he rose to be a genuine hero
Author: Dinesh Kumar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 17, 1997

As a six-year-old, he would wear his father's Gorkha hat and his
grandfather's army boots and pretend to he an army officer.

When in high school, he would pray at the temple every Tuesday so that he
could he selected to the National Defence Academy (NDA).

When he went to the NDA, he would write to his mother asking her to pray
that his squadron would winthe cross-country trophy. And when he went to
Kashmir this April, with less than two years in service, he pledged to
return with at least four ribbons, including one for gallantry.

At 3.30 pm on July 21, he did return, but as a martyr and with an Ashoka
Chakra, the country's highest peace-time gallantry award. The story of
24-year-old 2/Lt Puneet Nath Datt, who died after killing three foreign
mercenaries in the Kashmir valley on July 20, is one fit for heroes.

Acting on information he himself had gathered, Puneet led his troops to a
house in Nowshera village near Srinagar in the early hours of July 20.
After killing two militants, he told his soldiers to give him cover while
he himself dug a hole to place charges to try and force the militants out.
It was then that a militant hiding inside opened fire and shot him in the
face. Puneet died soon after but not before killing his assassin.

Puneet had joined the 1/11 Gorkha Rifle unit from which his late father had
prematurely retired as a major. "He wanted to achieve what his father had
not. He wanted to command the battalion and then go onto becoming a
general," says his mother Anita Datt fighting back her tears.

Puneet's dedication is evident from the sketches on a sheet of paper that
he had drawn while in the Indian Military Academy.


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