Lt. Nikita Kaul, wife of officer killed in Pulwama, joins Army

Twenty-seven months after she misplaced her husband in an anti-insurgency operation in south Kashmir’s Pulwama, 29-year-old Nitika Kaul on Saturday donned the Army uniform after finishing one-year rigorous coaching in Tamil Nadu.

Army’s Northern Commander Lt. Gen. Y.K. Joshi pipped the celebs on her shoulders at a easy ceremony held on the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, and wished her finest of luck for future endeavours.

Lieutenant Kaul, initially a resident of Kashmir, was married to Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal for simply 9 months when the information of him making the supreme sacrifice for the nation throughout a gunfight with Jaish-e-Mohammad militants turned her world the wrong way up. The Major was amongst 5 safety forces personnel killed in the February 18, 2019, encounter in which three JeM terrorists, together with two prime commanders believed to be behind the lethal Pulwama suicide assault on a CRPF convoy, have been gunned down.

Major Dhoundiyal was awarded Shaurya Chakra (posthumously) for his sacrifice for the nation. Motivated by her husband, Lt. Kaul cleared the Short Service Commission (SSC) examination and interview final yr and formally joined the Indian Army as an officer on the ceremony presided over by Lt. Gen. Joshi, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Udhampur-based Northern Command.

“#MajVibhutiShankarDhoundiyal, made the Supreme Sacrifice at #Pulwama in 2019, was awarded SC (P). Today his wife @Nitikakaul dons #IndianArmy uniform; paying him a befitting tribute. A proud moment for her as Lt Gen Y K Joshi, #ArmyCdrNC himself pips the Stars on her shoulders!,” the PRO Udhampur tweeted.

Lt. Kaul, who offered a courageous face over the last rites of her husband at his dwelling city Dehradun, had left her job with a multinational firm in Delhi to affix the Army.