Ooty war hero recalls role in 1965 war

Capt.Mani, who received the President’s award for his participation in the war, is a multi-faceted personality. Residents here know him as the chairman of the Red Cross in the Nilgiris, former Commandant of Home Guards, proprietor of SM hospital and a philanthropist. But only a few know he was part of the 1965 war wherein he crossed the border with his soldiers and captured a village in Lahore district in Pakistan.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Capt. Mani, a Badaga, hailling from Kattabettu village near Kothagiri said, “I was attached to Ack Ack Regiment, which is now the air defence regiment, that was part of the artillery wing then. I was leading a company of soldiers and I was in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir when our company was asked to march towards Lahore, immediately after the war had been declared in August 1965. We reached Akhnoor sector and from there we crossed the Ichogil canal in the Indo-Pak border and entered the Pakistan territory. Immediately, our company of soldiers, whose main task was to assist the infantry and to engage in anti-aircraft mission, reached Saboke hamlet in Lahore district and captured it.

While the village folk fled immediately, our troops landed there and defeated the Pakistan army. “While we destroyed a few Pakistan tankers, our troops were monitoring the air strike efforts being made by Pakistan. In a couple of days with the help of other battalions, Indian army captured a police station at Barkee area in Lahore district and marched towards the Lahore airport. But, by then the ceasefire was announced and we returned to India,” he added.

Capt. K.R. Mani is seen checking a gun at a bunker in Saboke hamlet in Lahore in Pakistan in 1965. (Photo: DC)