In one of the rare instances, President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday awarded Shaurya Chakra to 16-year-old Irfan Ramzan Sheikh for fighting terrorists who attacked his residence in Shopian district of Jammu & Kashmir. Shaurya Chakra is usually awarded to armed forces and paramilitary personnel for "gallantry otherwise in the face of the enemy".
This apart, Kirti Chakras were awarded to Sowar Vijay Kumar of the Armoured Corps and Constable Pradip Kumar Panda of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The two died in two separate operations in Jammu & Kashmir. Besides Sheikh, rifleman Jaiprakash Oraon and Sepoy Ajay Kumar were also awarded Shaurya Chakras for their role in counter terror operations in Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir respectively.
During the intervening night of October 16-17 of 2017, terrorists cordoned off the house of Sheikh. His father Mohammad Ramzan was an ex-sarpanch with affiliations to the People's Democratic Party (PDP).
When Sheikh, the eldest son of Mohammad Ramzan, opened the door, he found three terrorists in the verandah of the house armed with rifles and grenades. Sheikh, who was 14 years old then, put a brave fight with the terrorists by pouncing on them, which led to the terrorists to run away from area. Currently, studying in Class X, Sheikh aspires to become an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
The terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing, resulting in severe injury to Sheikh's father, who later died.