Three officers honoured with Kirti Chakra

Three officers, including an IAF officer who died while saving Uttarakhand flood victims, a naval officer who non-stop sailed around the world and an Army Major who killed three terrorists, were today awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest peacetime gallantry award.
A Civil Engineer of the Border Roads Organisation who lost his life while saving his three colleagues in an accident in Assam and a young IAF jawan who saved a village from burning were among the 10 personnel who were awarded the Shaurya Chakra by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Wg Cdr Darryl Castelino received the award posthumously for his role in Op Rahat in Uttarakhand where his Mi-17V5 chopper crashed with 20 personnel on board after he had helped in rescuing lives of more than 80 people.

Maj Mahesh Kumar of Punjab Regiment got the award for his gallant acts in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir where he eliminated four terrorists in three separate incidents.
In one of the operations, he killed one of the two terrorists who were trying to run away on a cycle and tried to attack him with a grenade.
Cdr Abhilash Tomy received the Kirti Chakra for completing world voyage on his sail ship non-stop and without any external support in 151 days.