Brigadier M. Natarajan, Brigadier-in-charge of Administration (designate) Dakshin Bharat Area, Chennai, inaugurated the renovated memorial of Kargil war hero Major Saravanan on Friday at a function organised by a trust and 117 Territorial Army Battalion, Tiruchi.
Collector S. Sivarasu, Police Commissioner A. Amalraj, Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran and Major Saravanan Memorial Trust managing trustee Senthil Kumar were present.
A postal stamp of Major Saravanan was released.
Major Saravanan was commissioned in the First Battalion of Bihar Regiment in March 1995. He was assigned the task of capturing a well-fortified post at a height of 14,229 feet in the Batalik sub-sector during the Kargil war. In the fierce fighting, he fired at the enemy bunker killing two of them. Despite sustaining injury, he eliminated another two enemy personnel. He was hit by another burst on his head and succumbed to injury on May 29, 1999.
Major Saravanan was awarded the Vir Chakra posthumously for his committed professionalism and exemplary leadership and was named the “The Hero of Batalik.” His father late Lieutenant Colonel Mariappan had served as a doctor in the Indian Army. His mother Amirthavalli established the Major Saravanan Memorial Trust along with family members and raised the memorial in May 2007. It was renovated at a cost of ₹ 8.25 lakh.