![]() ![]() Sagat Singh gave up command of the Para Brigade in 1964 and was promoted as Major General and posted in North-East India, as head of the 17th Mountain Division. General Sagat Singh with his men along the borders of Sikkim News of Sagat Singh’s fame as the ‘liberator of Goa’ went all the way to Portugal, where the government placed a reward on the soldier’s head! The people of Goa welcomed Sagat Singh and his Para Brigade as liberators, the next day. The previous night, Indian troops had surrounded Portuguese forces on all sides and the latter offered to surrender. They were airdropped into Panaji on the 19th December, the first troops to enter the city during Operation Vijay. Using improvised resources, Sagat Singh’s brigade crossed their riverine obstacles on rafts and local boats. General Sagat Singh and his men were assigned the task of taking Panaji. ![]() On 11th December 1961, the Indian Army advanced into Goa from two directions- the North and the East, to capture Panaji and Marmagao (present-day Madgao). the Army, Navy and the Air Force, were involved. ‘Operation Vijay’ was the code name given by the Indian armed forces to liberate Goa, in which all three wings i.e. He was to be part of the advance of the Indian Army to liberate Goa from the Portuguese. Immediately after earning his maroon beret and para wings, Sagat Singh was summoned to the Defence Ministry Office (DMO) in Delhi, to be briefed on a special assignment, in November 1961. Nevertheless, Sagat Singh underwent a tough probation course before he could begin his jumps and he passed with flying colours. He was over 40 years old, and very few officers had started jumping at that age. Up until then, the commanding officers of the brigade had been paratroopers but Sagat Singh was an infantryman in a rifle regiment. ![]() LT General Sagat Singh, when he was commanding officer of 3/3 Gorkha Rifles.Ī decade later, he was promoted to the rank of Brigade Commander of India’s only Parachute Brigade, the 50th. ![]()
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