Major Ratnesh Kumar Chaturvedi was born on 19th April 1956 to Shri LN Chaube and belonged to Indore in Madhya Pradesh. He got selected for the prestigious NDA after finishing school and later went to IMA Dehradun and was commissioned on 11th June 1977 at the age of 21 years. He got commissioned into 5 Raj Rif of the Rajputana Rifles Regiment.
| Service Number | IC 34499 |
| Place of Birth | Indore, MP |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 5 Raj Rif |
| Regiment | Rajputana Rifles |
| Award | Vir Chakra |
| Date of Martyrdom | 18th October 1987 |
In 1987 he was posted in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peacekeeping Force. On 18th October 1987, 5 Raj Rif was tasked to link up with 1 Martha light Infantry in Jaffna Fort. Major Ratnesh was assigned the task of leading this operation along with his troops. When the force reached the final stages, the militants opened up heavy machine guns and light machine guns. Major Ratnesh and his men took position and returned fire. However, the militants were large in numbers. The time was running out and ammunition running low. Therefore, Major Ratnesh decided to personally lead his company’s assault at the militants’ gun position. While doing so, he was hit on his chest. Despite being wounded severely, Major Ratnesh continued moving towards the militants’ heavy machine gun and kept on encouraging his men to rush to the militants’ location. The company kept firing, killing six, and two of them were killed by Major Ratnesh. Though seriously injured, Major Ratnesh refused to be evacuated. Later owing to excessive loss of blood, he lost consciousness eventually succumbed to his injuries.
Major Ratnesh Kumar Chaturvedi was awarded ‘Vir Chakra’ posthumously.
