LT Colonel who was in coma after gunfight with Militants in Kupwara dies after 8 years


Jalandhar, Dec 25: Lt Col Karanbir Singh Natt, Sena Medal, who was in coma for last eight years after receiving serious injuries while fighting militants in Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015, passed away on Saturday in Military Hospital Jalandhar.

Brig BA Dhillon (retd), Director Sainik Welfare, Punjab, confirmed the news of Lt Col Natt’s demise.

Lt Col Natt was serving as the second-in-command (2IC) of 160 Territorial Army Battalion (JAK Rifles) at the time of the incident in November 2015 while leading a combing operation against militants holed up in a village near Kupwara.

Lt Col Natt was originally commissioned as a Short Service Commission officer in The Brigade of Guards in 1998. He served in the regiment for 14 years before being relieved from service in 2012. He joined the Territorial Army following his completion of service as a Short Service Commission officer.

Lt Col Natt had received grievous injuries to his face, particularly lower jaw, when on November 25, 2015 a terrorist holed up in a hut in Haji Naka village in Kupwara district of J&K, close to the Line of Control, fired upon him. Doctors in the Military Hospital in Srinagar and later in Army Research and Referral Hospital New Delhi had conducted frantic surgeries in him to save his life.

The family of Lt Col Natt originally belongs to village Dhadiala Natt, near Batala. He is survived by his wife Navpreet Kaur, and daughters, Guneet and Ashmeet.– (The Indian Express)

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