When a family donated everything to Indian armed forces to honour their martyred son

Sandhu’s 79-year-old father Devinder Sandhu, during a re-union of war decorated soldiers in 2013, had announced a will in favour of the Assam Regiment

Second Lt Rajeev Sandhu MVC was just 21 when he was killed in action in Sri Lanka during Indian Peacekeeping Force’s (IPKF’s) operation against Liberation Tigers of Eelam (LTTE).

Sandhu, who belonged to the Assam Regiment’s 7-Assam battalion, was deployed in the Batticulova sector when he was caught in an ambush laid by the LTTE, according to a Times of India report said.

Sandhu was severely injured but he made sure he picked up his carbine and shot the militants dead before succumbing to his wounds, the report said.

His act of valour earned him the second highest gallantry award Maha Vir Chakra, becoming the second youngest Indian armed forces officer ever to do it.

To keep his story etched into the folklores of Indian armed forces, his parents decided in 2013 to donate all their movable and immovable properties to the Assam Regiment, according to the report.

Sandhu’s 79-year-old father Devinder Sandhu, during a re-union of war decorated soldiers in 2013, had announced a will in favour of the Assam Regiment after the death of both him and his wife, the report said. “Rajeev was my only child and for the last 25 years we have been living with his memories and after our death we wanted someone who can remember our son with the same love.” Sandhu’s father had said.

In 2013, Sandhu’s parents lived in Chandigarh and were a native of Amritsar.