Pradyot Gupta
“Bichda kuch iss adaa se, ke rutt hi badal gayii……..
Ek shakhas saare shehar ko viraan kar gayaa…………..”
It was the dreaded day of May 10, 2025, when Pakistan sponsored fresh motor shelling and drone strikes continued in India’s border districts including Rajouri town, resulting in martyrdom of six persons including Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Rajouri, Dr. Raj Kumar Thappa (JKAS). On that illfated day, residents of villages near the line of control (LOC) in Rajouri district were leaving their homes and have moved to safer places as houses and government buildings have been hit by Pakistani shells. In Rajouri district, Additional District Development Commissioner,(ADDC), Dr. Raj Kumar Thapa and his two staff members were seriously injured when an artillery shell hit his official residence in the town at 5:00 am in the morning. Later, they were shifted to the nearly Government Medical College, where Dr. Thapa succumbed to his injuries. Two year old Aisha Noor and Mohd Shohib were also martyred and three others injured in Pakistani shelling near an industrial area namely Kheora in Rajouri town.
After a night of bristling tension on May 10, 2025, residents of Rajouri town including myself and my officials woke up in wee hours to explosion like sounds in nearby locality of Deputy Commissioner Office, Rajouri where our office is also located, while air sirens rang out early morning amid a sharp upturn in the military conflict between India and Pakistan. Right from mid-night, we heard blast like sounds, though high alert was also issued in Rajouri and district administration and police officials had advised residents to remain indoors and avoid un-necessary movement. Multiple drone attacks were attempted by Pakistan on the night of Friday and tensions between India and Pakistan soared significantly.
I have no words to express my shock and sadness when one of the district officers rang me at 5:45 am and intimated me about the unbelievable demise of Dr. R.K Thapa. At first instance, I did not believe but when one of my officials, who is residing next to my room came and told me that “Thapa Sir ki death ho gayi.” It really pained me and I was in deep shock. Later, thorough media -channels and facebook, whatsapp messages, the demise of Thapa sir confirmed.
Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Abhishek Sharma (IAS) on 10 May, 2025 at 7:28 am in district officers group wrote: “Today we lost the most sincere, hard working, caring and dedicated officer as he attained martyrdom.” Other officers also expressed condolences as they lost their working commander and officer of unparalleled character and capability. A product of Sainik School and son of Durga Dass, Dr. Raj Kumar Thapa (JKAS), was really an outstanding and brilliant officer, back bone of district administration Rajouri, who attained martyrdom on 10 May 2025 in cross border shelling while serving the nation with unwavering dedication. He was a highly respected and committed officer known for his integrity and discipline and people centric approach.
Born on 28.04.1971, his contribution during the ‘Badhal Crisis in Rajouri’ stands out as a shining example of administrative courage and responsiveness. Amid heightened tensions and difficult terrain, he played a crucial role in coordinating relief, maintaining peace and ensuring the safety of civilians. His leadership in those testing times earned him immense respect across all sections of society. I also got an opportunity to work under his kind control during ‘Badhal Crisis’ when mysterious illness was spread in the area of Badhal, tehsil Khawas (Koternaka, Rajouri). Under his able leadership, two quarantine centres were established at district headquarters for Badhal families, one at Govt. Nursing College Rajouri and second at GHSS(Boys) Rajouri, where approximately 300 citizens of Bodhaal area were quarantined. I remember that Dr. Thapa gave me directions to provide some labourers for shifting of beds in quarantine centres, which I did and later my team of Labour department Rajouri right from 23.01.2025 started creating awareness among the inmates regarding schemes of Labour department. On the directions of ADDC sir, on sport E-shram cards and Labour cards were issued to the members of Badhal families. It was almost 45 days affairs, when we served our duties at quarantine centres under the supervision of Thapa sir.
Being Nodal officer of project mission YUYA in district Rajouri, Dr. Thapa was instrumental in conducting baseline survery across 19 blocks and 312 panchayts all across the district. Under his leadership, Udhyam Jagriti awareness campaign was conducted right from January to April, 2025. Master, Trainers, supervisors and investigators were appointed till survey was completed successfully. I remember that he established a dedicated control room for baseline survey and conducted various training programmes for investigators and supervisors. Under his supervision, inaugural panchayat level campaign – Udhyam Jagriti was held in Dassal panchayat on 21.12.2024, where he was the key speaker. Last programme was chaired by him on 18 April, 2025 at ITI Rajouri regarding orientation cum training for YUVA Doots and under his close supervision, 132 YUVA doots were nominated. It is because of his able directions, constitution of Small Business development Units (SBDUs) and Business Help Desks (BHDs) became possible. I had the privilege to work under his kind control and we both attended a technical training programme under Mission YUVA on April 24-25 at Udhyog Bhawan, Jammu.
One day ago his death on 09.05.2025, Dr. Thapa was accompanying Deputy Chief Minister J&K, in shelling affected areas, border and hospital visits, also convened meeting at Dak Banglow, Rajouri in evening and also attended online meeting chaired by Chief Minister J&K on that day. Before turning in for the night, finalized arrangements for additional hospital beds. Until late night, he was busy finalizing arrangements for the safety of residents along the line of control (LOC) in Rajouri, facing cross-border shelling from Pakistan. But the destiny has set something heart breaking. Hours later, the JKAS officer was dead, falling victim to one such shell. When the cross border shelling resumed he was busy preparing an evacuation plan for the border residents. Around the same time roughly, a shell hit a window of his official residence and splinters struck him in the head and back. He was walking down a lobby when struck and appeared to be getting ready to leave for work. Till night before martyrdom, he was handling border relief.
An MBBS graduate, he received his degree from GMC Jammu in 1989. He joined JKAS in 2001. He is survived by his wife, a doctor and their two children. He was posted as ADDC Rajouri in March last year. Before his tenure in Rajouri, Mr. Thapa served as an officer on special duty (OSD) to former Deputy Chief Minister from 2009 to 2014, besides holding significant roles including Mission Director, J&K Skill Development Mission, RTO Kathua and Special Secretary in the Labour & Employment department. He also shared with me that he worked in the personal sections of two Ministers from the valley. A dedicated, modest, efficient civil servant, he was a part of the training programmes conducted by National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) under the Ministry of Personnel, Govt. of India.
Hailing from Roopnagar, Jammu he also played a key role in the conduct of the Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections in Rajouri district last year. He was an exception, being very active and well connected with the civil society of Rajouri. He was also the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of District Development Council(DDC) Rajouri. His martyrdom is an irreparable loss not only to the civil administration but to the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He sacrificed his life for the cause of nation in the line of duty. We must carry forward our responsibilities with the same dedications and sense of duty as exemplified by Dr. Thapa. His sacrifice will always be remembered with deep respect.
( The author is working as Assistant Labour Commissioner, Rajouri)
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