Puneet Nath Dutt

2nd Lt. Puneet Nath Datt (29th April 1973 - 20th July 1997), was a soldier who served in the 11 Gorkha Rifles regiment of the Indian Army.

He belonged to the Muhiyal community and was posthumously awarded India's highest peace-time gallantry award, Ashok Chakra [ [http://faculty.winthrop.edu/haynese/india/medals/AC.html Ashok Chakra Winners] ] for bravery displayed in an operation conducted against foreign terrorists well-entrenched in a three storey building in the Naushera area of Srinagar in the state of Jammu and Kashmir [ [http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Galleries/Courage/Puneet/ Article on 2nd Lt. Puneet Nath Datt] at Bharat Rakshak, Unofficial Website of the Indian Armed Forces] .

Family

Consistent with the tradition of military service among Muhiyal Brahmins [The history of the Muhiyals: The militant Brahman race of India, by T. P. Rusell Stracey ,Lahore,1911] , 2nd. Lt. Puneet Nath Dutt's family included other soldiers as well. His father Major Pramod Nath Dutt also belonged to Gorkha Rifles and was the reason Puneet Nath Dutt was inspired to join the same regiment. His grandfather Col. S.N.C Bakshi also served in the Indian Army while his uncle V.K.C Bakhshi was a Commander in the Indian Navy. The posthumous Ashok Chakra was received on his behalf by his mother Mrs. Anita Datt, from the President of India on on 26th January 1998, India's Republic Day.

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