During the operations against Pakistan in December, 1971, Flight Lieutenant Niraj Kukreja was serving with a Fighter Squadron. On the 17th December 1971, while he was leading an escort formation for one of our strike missions, he spotted two enemy F-104 aircraft constituting direct threat to the strike mission. He alerted his number two and also informed the leader of the strike mission that he was engaging the enemy aircraft. He skillfully maneuvered his aircraft and got behind one of the F-104’s. 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 Niraj Kukreja displayed gallantry, professional skill and devotion to duty of a high order. |