PUNE: At least 40 army officers in the ranks of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (ORs) will receive gallantry and distinguished awards at the investiture ceremony of the Southern Command here on Tuesday.Southern Army Commander Lt Gen SK Saini will present awards to the brave soldiers and family members of those soldiers who died in action.The family members of sepoy Savan Mane and Naik Sandip Sarjerao Jadhav of 15th battalion of Maratha Light Infantry (MLI) from Maharashtra will receive ‘Sena Medal (Gallantry)’ posthumously.On June 22, 2017, sepoy Mane was part of area domination patrol moving from post Chhabila to Gurung at Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. The troops encountered heavy firing from close range.“Sepoy Mane sustained two bullet injuries on his left shoulder. Realising that the party was trapped in an ambush, he quickly took over a gun and started firing indiscriminately towards the direction of ambush. At that time, he was bleeding profusely and was fast losing consciousness. Realising danger to his comrades, he decided to move out of his cover and lobbed grenades, which created utter chaos among the intruders and forced them to flee. But they fired under barrel grenade launcher onto Mane. As a result, he succumbed to grievous injuries,” reads the Army’s record.Mane’s fellow, senior Jadhav from Kalegoan village in Aurangabad district, too, had received serious bullet injuries during the operation but he too did not give up and killed one intruder before falling unconscious.“Naik Jadhav displayed indomitable spirit, determination, exceptional bravery, and made the supreme sacrifice for the nation,” reads the Army record.

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