Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 7

Two alumni from institutes in the tricity bagged top honours during the passing-out parade held for the newly commissioned Lieutenants at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai on Saturday.

Lt Harpreet Singh, an alumnus of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), Mohali, received the coveted Sword of Honour and the gold medal for standing first in the overall order of merit in the course, while Lt Vaibhav Mahajan, a cadet with No 1 Chandigarh NCC Air Squadron, was awarded the silver medal for standing second. Lt Mahajan had the distinction of commanding the parade.

In all, 167 gentlemen cadets, including 31 lady cadets, became officers on Saturday. The passing-out parade was reviewed by Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff.

Lt Singh, who held the rank of the Academy Cadet Adjutant during the training period, has been commissioned into the Scinde Horse, an elite armoured regiment that dates back to the pre-Independence era. His father, Risaldar Sukh Ram (retd), is a veteran tankman having served with the Hodson’s Horse. The family belongs to Abiana Khurd village near Ropar.

Lt Mahajan, on the other hand, has opted to be a foot soldier and has been commissioned into the Parachute Regiment. An alumnus of Postgraduate Government College in Sector 11 here, he had represented Chandigarh in the NCC Republic Day Camp in New Delhi in 2016. Later, he went to Moscow as part of the Youth Exchange Programme.