First major victory of Operation Vijay: How India won Tololing and Point 5140 in Dras. explainer news

Last updated:July 14, 2026, 10:31 IST

Tololing, a rugged pass near Dras, was one of the earliest and most stubborn objectives of Operation Vijay.

Twenty-seven years after India’s victory in Operation Vijay was declared, the story of Kargil is often told through Tiger Hill and the iconic soundbites. But the real turn of the tide in Kargil began a little earlier, at two brutal, wind-swept heights above Dras: Tololing and Point 5140. These battles transformed a desperate defensive battle into a deliberate, confident campaign, and ultimately made possible Indian victory, both militarily and politically.

Operation Vijay and Dras dilemma

By the early summer of 1999, it had become clear that Pakistani regular troops of the Northern Light Infantry, aided by irregulars, had quietly captured a series of winter-vacant positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control in the Kargil-Drass-Batalik belt. These heights overlook National Highway 1A, the only all-weather lifeline connecting the Kashmir Valley to Ladakh and beyond to the Siachen Glacier.

Operation Vijay – India’s code name for the campaign to evict infiltrators – was launched with two difficult constraints: the army would fight at high altitude in areas where the enemy already had fortifications, and political directives prohibited crossing the LoC even where it could have been tactically useful. In the Dras sector, a group of ridges and ridges became central to the outcome of the battle: if Tololing and its ridgeline features, including Point 5140, remained in Pakistani hands, the highway would remain subject to surveillance and intermittent firing, tying India down and reducing its strategic edge.

Tololing: First success in Dras

Tololing, a rugged pass near Dras, was one of the earliest and most stubborn objectives of Operation Vijay. Pakistani troops had dug deep bunkers and trenches, taking advantage of the steep slope and rocky cover of the ridgeline; Attacking troops had to climb into thin air, completely exposed, often within direct line of sight of the enemy.

Units under 8 Mountain Division under the command of Major General Mohinder Puri and 121 Independent Infantry Brigade led by Brigadier OP Nandrajog were tasked with recapturing the area. Initial attacks in late May met fierce resistance; The companies lost men to machine-gun blasts and mortars even before the bunkers could be closed. Among those killed in the initial attempts was Major Rajesh Adhikari of the 2nd Rajputana Rifles, whose company had reached the summit around 30 May. Over the following days, while maintaining pressure on the enemy, repeated attempts to recover their bodies underlined both the brutality of the fighting and the Army’s refusal to leave behind its dead.

The final phase of the battle saw the coordinated use of heavy artillery to attack Pakistani positions, followed by infantry maneuvers trying to avoid predictable routes. A flanking company under Major Vivek Gupta attacked from a less expected direction, but he was killed in action during the climactic attack. By mid-June, Tololing and its immediate areas were recaptured after weeks of hard fighting and substantial casualties. Militarily, this not only reduced direct fire on NH1A, but also proved that Indian infantry could dislodge well-entrenched defenders from commanding heights, a psychological shift as important as the tactical advantage.

Point 5140: Capture of the crown

With Tololing secured, attention turned to Point 5140, the highest and most defended point on the same ridgeline and an important observation point for the Dras sector. Standing at an altitude of about 17,000 feet, it gave Pakistani troops an even better vantage point to observe and direct artillery on the highway and Indian forward posts.

The mission of capturing Point 5140 was assigned to 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (13 JAK Rif), commanded by the then Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi, an officer who would later command the Leh-based XIV Corps and the Army’s Northern Command. Reconnaissance revealed seven enemy mines on the feature, and identified the eastern approach as marginally the least suicidal option: still steep and exposed, but offering some scope for surprise.

Joshi’s plan included an attack on two companies under the cover of heavy artillery. Bravo Company, led by Captain Sanjeev Singh Jamwal, was to advance from the south, while Delta Company, led by Captain Vikram Batra, was to attempt a daring eastern advance. Before the operation, each commander chose specific radio call signs to indicate success: Jamwal enthusiastically shouted “Oh! Yes, yes, yes!” While Batra chose the line that would be etched in popular memory – “Yeh Dil Maange Mor!”

Shortly after midnight on 20 June 1999, both companies began their advance under intense fire, overwhelming the enemy defences. As soon as the artillery was withdrawn, continuous machine-gun fire began on the Pakistani positions, forcing the Indian companies to repeatedly ask for fire support until they were entrenched. By about 3:15, Bravo Company had made its way to the first Sangars. Jamwal personally led the attack, killing enemy soldiers in hand-to-hand combat and clearing several bunkers as his men gave chase. By 3:30 am, Bravo had achieved its assigned objective, with Jamwal relaying his pre-determined success phrase back to battalion headquarters.

Meanwhile, Batra’s Delta Company was tackling a rocky outcrop on the eastern side under heavy enemy fire. Using rockets to suppress some bunkers and then break in, Batra led his men in a surprise attack, and despite being wounded himself, engaged the intruders in close combat. He is recorded to have eliminated several enemy combatants and silenced the machine-gun positions with hand grenades, then pressed on with the attack until Shikha was firmly in Indian hands. At about 4:35, Point 5140 was declared captured; Batra announced the victory in his chosen words, “Yeh Dil Maange Mor!”, instantly turning the Cola tagline into a symbol of youthful courage in battle.

At least ten Pakistani soldiers were killed; The Indian troops captured a heavy machine-gun and a cache of weapons, and remarkably, no company suffered fatal losses in this high-risk attack. For their actions, Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Joshi, Captain Sanjeev Jamwal, Naik Dev Prakash and Rifleman Mehar Singh were awarded the Vir Chakra, while Captain Vikram Batra was awarded the Param Vir Chakra.

Tololing and 5140 to Vijay

The capture of Tololing and Point 5140 fundamentally changed the geometry of the Kargil conflict. With the Tololing ridgeline largely back in Indian hands, Pakistani positions at nearby features such as Point 5100, Point 4700, Junction Peak and the Three Pimples Complex became more vulnerable to artillery and infantry attacks from multiple directions. The Dras sector, which was under severe pressure, now offered India the field for further action rather than merely defensive outposts.

Operationally, these victories helped secure NH1A to a great extent, facilitating movement of men, weapons and supplies towards Kargil and other threatened areas. Psychologically, they signaled to both sides that Pakistani gains were not permanent: they could be reversed through coordinated firepower, planning and sheer physical endurance. Inside India, news of the successes strengthened public confidence in the Army’s ability to operate under harsh constraints, bolstering the political leadership’s decision to fight a limited war within the Line of Control.

From late June, successes were achieved at Tiger Hill, Point 4875 and Batalik-Mashkoh sector based on the momentum generated at Tololing and 5140, culminating in Pakistan’s disengagement agreement. By 14 July 1999, the Indian Army had gained control of most of the strategic heights in the Dras, Kargil and Batalik sectors. The formal declaration of India’s victory took place on 26 July 1999 – now celebrated as Kargil Vijay Diwas.

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