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Neikezhakuo Kengurüse

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In this Angami name, the surname is Kengurüse.

Captain Neikezhakuo Kengurüse, MVC (15 July 1974 – 28 June 1999) was an Indian Army officer from Nagaland.

Captain

Neikezhakuo Kengurüse

MVC
Nickname(s)Nimbu Sahib
Neibu
Born(1974-07-15)15 July 1974
Nerhema, Kohima District, Nagaland, India
Died28 June 1999(1999-06-28) (aged 24)
Black Rock, Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir, India
AllegianceIndia Republic of India
Service / branch Indian Army
Years of service1998–1999
Rank Captain
Service numberIC-58396
Unit2nd Rajputana Rifles
(Army Service Corps)
Battles / warsKargil War †
Awards Maha Vir Chakra

Kengurüse was an officer of 2 Rajputana Rifles, who was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest gallantry award, for his exemplary valour in combat during operations in the Kargil War in 1999.[1]

Early life

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Kengurüse was born at Nerhema village in Kohima District, Nagaland, India. His father was Neisielie Kengurüse. He had two brothers named Ngseue Kengurüse and Atoulie Kengurüse. He did his schooling at St. Xavier School in Jalukie and graduated from Kohima Science College.[2]

He worked as a teacher at the Government High School in Kohima from 1994 to 1997.[3]

Military career

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Kengurüse passed the Combined Defence Services Examination in 1996 and joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in Jun 1997 to fulfill his dream of serving the Indian army.[4]

Kengurüse was commissioned into the Army Service Corps of the Indian Army on 12 December 1998, and was in the midst of his field attachment with the 2nd Rajputana Rifles battalion.[5]

He was fondly nicknamed Neibu by his family and friends.[6] Some soldiers under his command called him Nimbu Sahib.[7][8] A memorial was constructed at Pheza Village in his memory.[9]

Kargil War

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On 28 June 1999, at Lone Hill, Drass sector as the commander of Ghatak platoon,[10][11][12] a commando platoon, Kenguruse was assigned the task to evict Pakistani soldiers holding a machine gun post at Black Rock, Dras Sector and to capture the area.[13] Kengurüse established foothold for his platoon at 16000 feet (environmental temperature was at -10 deg. Celsius).[14]

Being inspired by the renowned headhunter Perheile, who was his great-great-grandfather,[7] Kengurüse had to climb barefeet as he realised that his shoes are having gripping problem in the rocks. Without his shoes, Kengurüse reached the top and killed 2 infiltrators with his rifle and other 2 enemies in a hand-to-hand combat despite being shot in his abdomen.[15][16][17][18]

Capt. Kengurüse is one of the top 15 decorated soldiers and officers of Kargil War.

Maha Vir Chakra

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The citation for the Maha Vir Chakra reads as follows:[19]

Operation: Op Vijay - Kargil

Effective Date of Award: 28 Jun 1999

CITATION

CAPTAIN NEIKEZHAKUO KENGURÜSE (IC-58396)
2 RAJPUTANA RIFLES (ASC)

(POSTHUMOUS)

Captain Neikezhakuo Kengurüse was the Ghatak Platoon Commander during the attack on Area Black Rock in the Drass Sector on the night of 28 June 1999 during Operation VIJAY.

He volunteered to undertake a daring commando mission of attacking a well-sited enemy machine gun position, on a cliff face, which was heavily interfering with all the approaches to the main objective of the Battalion. As the commando team scaled the cliff face, it came under intense mortar and automatic fire, which caused heavy casualties.

The officer sustained a splinter injury in his abdomen. Bleeding profusely yet undeterred, he urged his men to carry on with the assault. On reaching the final cliff face, the commando team was halted by a sheer rock wall that separated them from the enemy machine-gun post. The officer took off his shoes to get a good grip and scaled the rock wall carrying with him a rocket launcher, which he fired at the enemy position.

Unmindful of his personal safety, the officer thereafter charged at the enemy position and personally killed two men with his rifle and another two with his commando knife in a hand-to-hand combat before succumbing to his injury.

By his daredevil act, Captain Neikezhakuo Kengurüse single-handedly neutralised the enemy position, which had tied up the Battalion's progress.

Captain Neikezhakuo Kengurüse displayed conspicuous gallantry indomitable resolve, grit and determination beyond the call of duty and made the supreme sacrifice in the face of the enemy, in true traditions of the Indian Army.

Honour

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  • The Army Service Corps in Bangalore has an entrance gate named in his honour.[20]
  • There is a statue of Capt Neikezhakuo Kengurüse near the gate of the Army Service Corps Centre (South).[21]
  • The Assam Rifles established the Capt (Late) N Kenguruse, MVC Centre of Excellence and Wellness at Chieswema, Kohima in Nagaland in 2022 [1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Capt Neikezhakuo Kenguruse, MVC". Honoourpoint.
  2. ^ "18TH VIJAY DIWAS CELEBRATIONS: Remembering Capt Neikezhakuo Kenguruse, Mahavir Chakra". Sainik Samachar. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  3. ^ Ambrocia, Medolenuo (26 July 2020). "Nagaland: Kargil War martyr Capt Neikezhakuo Kenguruse remembered". EastMojo. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Naga Kargil Hero Captain Neikezhakuo Kengurüse's Death Anniversary Commemorated in Kohima". HORNBILL TV. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Assam Rifles pays tribute to Kargil hero Capt Kenguruse". The Eastern Mirror. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  6. ^ BAWEJA, HARINDER (2019). SOLDIER'S DIARY kargil the inside story. ROLI BOOKS. ISBN 978-81-941109-1-0. OCLC 1240772216. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b "India today". India Today. 24: 44. 1975. ISSN 0254-8399. OCLC 2675526 – via WORLDCAT.
  8. ^ [dead link‍]"Newsgram". Newsgram. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Capt Kenguruse honored on 'Vijay Diwas'". Nagaland Post. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  10. ^ Kanwal, Gurmeet (2002). Heroes of Kargil. Army Headquarters. OCLC 51172199. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  11. ^ Kakoty, Sanjeeb (30 August 2017). "Tri Colour atop the Himalayas: A North East Perspective". The Shillong Times. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  12. ^ Dwivedi, Diksha (2017). Letters from Kargil : the war through our soldiers' eyes. New Delhi, India: Juggernaut. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-93-86228-43-7. OCLC 1131777602.
  13. ^ "The Ghatak platoon captain who scaled a rock wall and gave Pakistan a bloody nose". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Late Capt Kenguruse honoured during Vijay Diwas". The Morung Express. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  15. ^ Saksena, Abhishek (15 July 2015). "Meet Captain Neikezhakuo Kenguruse - The Kargil Hero You Have Never Heard Of". IndiaTimes. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  16. ^ Chandar (Retd), Col Y. Udaya. Independent India's All the Seven Wars (1st ed.). Notion Press. ISBN 978-1948473217. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  17. ^ Dutt, Sanjay (2000). War and peace in Kargil sector. A.P.H.Publ. p. 79. ISBN 978-81-7648-151-9. OCLC 492081185. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  18. ^ "The war India can't forget". Hindustan Times. 26 July 2009.
  19. ^ "NEIKEZHAKUO KENGURUSE | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  20. ^ Mohit Rao (6 November 2015). "Army Services Corps honours its sole Mahavir Chakra awardee". The Hindu. Bangalore.
  21. ^ Service, Tribune News (7 November 2015). "Statue of Kargil hero unveiled". The Tribune (Chandigarh). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
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