Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai was born in Gujranwala in present-day Pakistan on 6th February 1913. He was commissioned on 1st February 1935 at the age of 22 years and was attached to the British Army regiment for a year. Subsequently, he was posted to the 5th battalion of the 11 Sikh Regiment on 24th February 1936. In October 1947, Lt Col Dewan Ranjit Rai was commanding the 1st battalion of Sikh Regiment in Gurgaon and was busy making arrangements for the refugees, when Kashmir was invaded by Pakistan.
| Place of Birth | Gujranwala |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | 1 Sikh |
| Regiment | Sikh Regiment |
| Award | Maha Vir Chakra |
| Date of Martyrdom | 27th October 1947 |
On 27th October 1947, Lt Col Ranjit Rai along with his C and D companies took off in IAF Dakotas from Delhi on a mission to save the town of Srinagar and its airfield from falling into the hands of Tribal Lashkars. Lt Col Ranjit Rai dispatched C company under Captain Kamaljit Singh to Baramulla to defend that town. Lt Col Ranjit Rai had no communications with his troops because the aircraft carrying the communication equipment had developed a snag and had en-route force landed at Jammu. When the remaining two companies did not arrive and the situation at Mile 32 became untenable, Lt Col Ranjit Rai decided to withdraw his troops from Mile 32. However, by then the withdrawal route was nearly cut off by the enemy. It was during this very difficult task of extricating his troops from the enemy cordon that Lt Col Ranjit Rai fell to an enemy bullet.
Lt Col Dewan Ranjit Rai was given the nation’s second highest gallantry award “Maha Vir Chakra” posthumously.
