Captain Umed Singh was born on January 21, 1942, in village Janked in Champawat sub-division of Almora District in Uttarakhand. Kumaon has been known for gallant warriors and Umed’s ambition from childhood was to join the Army. He was selected for the Indian Military Academy and was a popular cadet due to his cheerful disposition and common sense approach. He was an outstanding sportsman and was commissioned into 19th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles (19 Raj Rif) on June 11, 1967.
In 1947, the Naga National Council (NNC) headed by Phizo was demanding independence. The demand was not acceptable to the Government of India and an agreement was signed between the NNC and Sir Akbar Hydari, the Governor of Assam, which gave considerable autonomy to the NNC for running the administration of Naga Hills. The relations with the Central Government were to be reviewed after ten years. Phizo was not prepared to wait for ten years and launched a violent movement for independence after one year only. The response of the Government was to rush the Army to control the violence. The door for negotiations was left open and another agreement was signed in 1960 which led to the formation of a separate state of Nagaland.
Initially, the Naga rebels had equipped themselves with arms left behind by the Allied and Japanese forces after the Second World War. In the 1960s, they started getting weapons from Pakistan and later from China. During 1959 and 1963, four batches comprising 100 to 300 rebels underwent training in the former East Pakistan and were heavily armed by Pakistan. After the return of these batches, the violent campaign was intensified. Additional troops were rushed and counter-insurgency operations intensified. In November 1970, 19 Raj Rif was inducted into Nagaland and allotted the responsibility for Chakesang region. The government continued with military action and also pursued political pacification to create a democratic alternative.
Good intelligence is essential for success of counter-insurgency operations. It is difficult to get reliable and actionable intelligence due to fear of reprisals against informers. Units of Raj Rif Regiment had been operating in Nagaland for a long time and had established their own intelligence network. On July 4, 1971, Umed Singh learnt from a reliable source about a person who was in contact with a group of insurgents and was supplying rations and helping them. He immediately got in touch with him and persuaded him to help the Army. A group of about thirty rebels had recently returned from a foreign country after receiving arms and training. They were led by self-styled Brigadier Pavizo. Umed informed the Battalion Headquarters and set out with a force of 60 soldiers and reached within 500 metres of the insurgent camp in the early hours of July 6 after twelve hours march in night across difficult terrain. He divided his force into three squads. Keeping one squad directly under his command, he carried out a two pronged attack on the rebels. Exchange of firing with the sentry had alerted the insurgents. With complete disregard to his own safety, he led his party in the attack on the camp and was severely wounded in hands and stomach by fire from two rebels. In spite of his injuries, he pressed on with the attack. The personal example set by him inspired his men to redouble their efforts. The hostiles ran away leaving their wounded and arms behind. It was one of the most successful raids and gave a severe jolt to the violent campaign of the Nagas.
He was severely wounded and had lost considerable blood. The return journey was painful but he made no complaints. He succumbed to his injuries. He was awarded the highest peacetime gallantry award of Ashok Chakra for devotion to duty, courage and leadership. It was the first Ashok Chakra awarded to the Rajputana Rifles Regiment.