Vir Chakra (VrC)

During the operations against Pakistan in December 1971. Flight Lieutenant Niraj Kukreja was serving with a fighter squadron. On 17 December, while he was leading an escort formation of one of our strike missions, he spotted two enemy F- 104 aircraft constituting a direct threat to the strike mission. He alerted his No. 2 and also informed the leader of the strike mission that he was engaging the enemy aircraft. He skillfully manoeuvered his aircraft and got behind one of the enemy aircraft. After a short air combat, he fired both his missiles as a result of which the enemy aircraft exploded and crashed. In this action, Flight Lieutenant Kukreja displayed gallantry, professional skill and devotion to duty of a high order.