Colonel Vasanth Venugopal was born in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was born to Praphulla and NK Venugopal. He also had an elder brother. His father was an employee of LIC. For his work, the family had to travel to many cities. Because of this, he had studied in many different schools in Udupi, Shimoga and Bangalore also. After completing his schooling he went to MES college in Bengaluru and there he also joined NCC, with which he participated in the Indo-Canada World Youth Exchange Programme in 1986-87.
| Service No | IC-48714L | ||||
| DOB | March 25, 1967 | ||||
| Last Rank | Colonel | ||||
| Unit | 9 Maratha LI | ||||
| Arm/Regt | The Maratha Light Infantry | ||||
| Operation | Counter Insurgency Operation (J&K) | ||||
| Award | Ashoka Chakra | ||||
| Date Of Martyrdom | July 31, 2007 |
While working in NCC, he had developed the passion to join the armed forces and after graduating in 1988, he joined the Indian Military Academy as a gentleman cadet called as GC during the training in IMA. After the successful training, in June 1989, he became a commissioned officer, in 9 Maratha Light Infantry as Lt. Venugopal. In his career of 18 years he has been to many postings like, Pathankot, Sikkim, Gandhinagar, Ranchi, Bangalore and in various sectors of J&K.
On 28 October 2006, because of his bravery and many successful operations, and a great camaraderie, he was promoted to be as the CO (Commanding Officer) of his unit, while his unit was posted in Uri J&K, for counter insurgency operations.
COUNTER INSURGENCY OPERATION
He had led his men and unit very greatly for 9 months of his service, and had led many successful operations. On 31 July 2007, his unit received information from the intelligence sources that some terrorists were trying to cross the LoC in the Uri sector. He launched an operation to eliminate enemies of the nation. After seeing the importance of the operation, he personally led the operation despite being an Commissioned Officer, he went to the operation.
After reaching the suspected area, they saw the terrorists and surrounded the enemies from all over and closed their exit paths also. He had given his troops an advantageous position to counter the enemies. Then he flanked to an extremely advantageous position and gave the enemies an extreme surprise, therefore in close quarters, he shot 1 enemy and he also was injured in response. But in spite of thinking about his injuries, he continued to fire upon the enemies and constantly continued to lead his men to block the exit of the enemies so that they cannot escape. He killed two more enemies before succumbing to the injuries. In the whole operation 8 terrorists were shot dead. He is remembered as a very efficient soldier and a true leader who led his troops from the front, whatever be the circumstances. He was awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously (equivalent to Param Vir Chakra in peace time).
Col. Vasanth was survived by his wife Subhashini and daughters Rukmini and Yeshodha who were at the age of 10 and 7 in 2007 when their father gave the supreme sacrifice in the form of his life.
“From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.”
