Hero of Operation Meghdoot rescue
Captain Anshuman Singh came from Bardiha Dalpat village in Deoria district, Uttar Pradesh. He was born in September 1997 to Subedar Ravi Pratap Singh, an army veteran, and Manju Singh. He was the youngest of three children, with an older brother and sister. He studied at Rashtriya Military School, Chail in Himachal Pradesh. There, his interest in the Armed Forces grew, and he decided to pursue a military career. He initially qualified to join an engineering college.
Anshuman Singh completed his medical studies in AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College) Pune. AFMC is a prestigious institute that provides training in military medicine, high-altitude medicine, and injuries incurred in warfare. After completing his MBBS, Captain Singh did an internship in Agra.
Once he graduated, he joined the AMC (Army Medical Corps), which provides medical services to army personnel. He rose to the rank of captain in 2023. Same year he married Smriti on February 10. After two months of marriage, he was deputed in Operation Meghdoot at Siachen Glacier Area. Captain Anshuman Singh was posted as medical officer in the 403 Field Hospital of 26 Punjab Battalion on attachment from 26 Madras Regiment. The area remains inaccessible during the winter months and the soldiers face extreme risks in manning the forward posts in inhospitable terrain at heights of over 19,000 feet under extreme weather conditions. Captain Anshuman Singh functioning as a Regimental Medical Officer was responsible for providing medical care to all the troops deployed in the area.
On 19 July 2023, a short circuit caused a fire. Spotting a fibreglass hut engulfed in flames, Captain Singh immediately acted to save those trapped inside. He rescued five individuals but the fire soon spread to the nearby medical investigation room.
Perhaps being mindful of the fact that replacing supplies like medicines and equipment is very difficult at high altitudes, Captain Singh went back into the fire and was trapped inside while trying to retrieve some life-saving drugs. Despite his best efforts, he could not escape the blaze and died inside. He was cremated with full state honour at his native place in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district on 22 July 2023. He is survived by his parents, wife, and two siblings.
President Droupadi Murmu on 5 July 2024, conferred Kirti Chakra, India’s second-highest gallantry award, to Captain Anshuman Singh posthumously. Visuals of Captain Singh’s wife Smriti and his mother, Manju Singh, receiving the award from the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan went viral.
With tears in her eyes, Smriti Singh, dressed in a white saree, stood there as her late husband was praised for his supreme sacrifice. Anshuman Singh met Smriti on the first day of their engineering college before he was selected for the AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College) Pune.
“We met at an engineering college but then he got selected in a medical college. Super intelligent guy. From then on, after just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years,” she added. “Then we decided to get married. Unfortunately, within two months of our marriage, he got posted in Siachen,” Smriti recalled.
Remembering her late husband, she added, “He would tell me, ‘I would die with the brass on my chest. I would not die an ordinary death.”
Captain Anshuman Singh`s service period spanned from 19 March 2020 to 19 July 2023.
Contributed by Renu Prakash from the data bank of Late Brig. Suresh Chandra Sharma.