Colonel Sonam Wangchuk (Retd), Kargil war hero and ‘Lion of Ladakh’, died of heart attack at 61 at his residence in Ladakh. He was one of the earliest heroes of the 1999 Kargil War and a Mahavir Chakra awardee and his career, spanning three decades and multiple theatres, came to be defined by a single night on a frozen ridge at 5,500 metres.
Know all about Colonel Sonam Wangchuk
He was born in 1964 in Leh and studied at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, and graduated in History from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University. Colonel Sonam Wangchuk was commissioned through the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, into the 4th Battalion of the Assam Regiment.
Colonel Sonam Wangchuk also served across counter-insurgency deployments in the Northeast and India’s IPKF mission in Sri Lanka before moving to the Ladakh Scouts, the Army’s specialist high-altitude formation.
Wangchuk in 1999 led daring counter-ambush and killed enemy soldiers
On the night of May 30–31, 1999, he led a column tasked with securing Chorbat La in the Batalik sector and his men came under heavy fire during the advance, however, he did not pull back. Rather he launched what his gallantry citation called a “daring counter-ambush”, killed enemy soldiers, dislodged their positions, and secured the ridge.
Rajnath Singh pays tribute to Wangchuk
Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid tribute to him, calling him a “proud son of Ladakh” who “exemplified resilience, steadfastness and service to the nation”, and said his actions during Operation Vijay “inspired his men under the most demanding high-altitude conditions.”
Singh remembered his courageous actions during Operation Vijay and said that the life of Colonel Wangchuk is a testament to courage, sacrifice and national integration.
