Major Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay was born on 18th March 1977 to Shri K R Prabhakar and Smt Jaishree Prabhakar. He hailed from Bangalore. He got selected to join the prestigious National Defence Academy in 1994. He was commissioned into 53 Med Regt of the Regiment of Artillery in 1999. Besides serving with his parent unit 53 Med Regt, he also served with 37 Med Regt and later was deputed to serve with 34 Rashtriya Rifles battalion deployed in Kashmir for anti-insurgency operations. During 2007 Maj Vinay was serving with 37 RR battalion deployed in the Baramulla area of Kashmir valley.
| Service Number | IC-58793 Y |
| Place of Birth | Bangalore |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 53 Med Regt/37 Med Regt/34RR |
| Regiment | Regiment of Artillery |
| Award | Kirti Chakra |
| Date of Martyrdom | 2nd October 2007 |
On 2nd October 2007, Major Vinay along with Maj Dinesh Raghu Raman was assigned the task of launching an operation in a village in Baramulla to flush out the terrorists hiding there. On the early morning of 2nd October 2007, after getting the information about the movement of the militants, Maj Vinay leading a team of soldiers rushed to Tanmarg in Baramulla district. Soon the troops made contact with the terrorists who fired at them on being challenged. a fierce gun battle followed thereafter lasting for several hours. The terrorists started firing indiscriminately to break the cordon and flee but Maj Vinay and his troops foiled three such attempts. However, during the exchange of fire, Major Vinay was hit by the enemy bullets on his head and chest. He later succumbed to his injuries and was martyred.
Major Kumandar Prabhakar Vinay was given the nation’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award, “Kirti Chakra” posthumously.
