Padmapani Acharya
| Padmapani Acharya | |
|---|---|
| Died | Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir |
| Allegiance | India |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Rajputana Rifles |
| Battles/wars | Kargil War |
| Awards | Maha Vir Chakra |
Major Padmapani Acharya MVC was a Military officer in the Indian army. He was awarded the Indian military honour, Maha Vir Chakra posthumously for his actions during the Kargil War on 28th Jun 1999.[1][2]
Personal life
Maj. Acharya was originally from Odisha and was a resident of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Acharya, was married to Charulatha, Acharya's father, Jagannath Acharya, was a retired wing commander of the Indian Air Force, during 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan. He is presently working with the Defence Research and Development Laboratories at Hyderabad.[3] Maj. Acharya was survived by his parents, wife and daughter.
Kargil War
On 28 June 1999, in the battalion attack on the Tololing feature by the 2nd Rajputana Rifles, Major Padmapani Acharya as a Company Commander, was assigned the formidable task of capturing an enemy position which was heavily fortified and strongly held with mine fields and sweeping machine gun and artillery fire. Success of the battalion and brigade operation hinged on the early capture of this position. However the company attack almost faltered at the very beginning, when the enemy's artillery fire came down squarely on the leading platoon, inflicting large numbers of casualties. With utter disregard to his personal safety, Major Padmapani Acharya took the reserve platoon and led it through raining artillery shells.
Film adaptation
The events of Battle of Tololing was adapted as one of the prominent battle scenes in the Hindi, war film LOC Kargil in which actor Nagarjuna portrayed the role of Acharya.[4]