Gallantry award for 3 soldiers for gunning down Burhan Wani

Tucked away in the remote hills of south Kashmir, it is jubilation all around at the Rashtriya Rifles unit as three of its personnel have been awarded Sena Medal for having gunned down dreaded militant commander Burhan Wani.

As details of the July 8 operation last year emerge, it transpires that young Major Sandeep Kumar, who led the crack team following "actionable" intelligence input that Sartaj Aziz and two other militants were hiding in a house in Bumdoora village, showed nerves of steel and exemplary restraint in the face of extreme provocation in neutralising them.

It was a long wait for Major Kumar, Captain Manik Sharma and Naik Arvind Singh Chauhan before they could lead their team in storming the house where the militants were holed up.

Protesting crowds began swelling by the minute, shouting slogans and pelting the Army contingent with stones.