On a family trip to Ladakh six years ago, 21-year-old Brijesh Thapa had picked up an army jacket replica and later proclaimed on social media that the original would be his within a year.

On Monday, Captain Brijesh Thapa laid down his life while fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda.

The fact that Brijesh, then an engineering graduate from Darjeeling, was destined to join the army had probably become clear to him on that Ladakh trip.

“He bought an army jacket there. Later, I found out that he had posted a picture on Instagram stating that this jacket would be his within a year,” Brijesh’s mother Nilima said at the family’s home in Bara Ging, around 6km from Darjeeling town.

A few months after the Ladakh trip, Brijesh cracked the Short Service Commission (SSC) exam even though he was under-prepared. “No one asked him to join the army. In fact, when he went to take the SSC exam soon after graduation, his father (an army officer) thought that he was ill-prepared and had booked a return ticket for him to come home immediately after the written exam,” Nilima recalled.

Brijesh joined the army exactly a year later in 2019 and was posted in Jammu and Kashmir for the past two years.

Brijesh was the company commander of the Alpha unit during the joint operation of the Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir police in the Desa forest area when he was killed.

Besides Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D. Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra and Sepoy Ajay were also killed in the line of duty.

“My wife and I spoke to him last around 9am on Sunday,” Brijesh’s father Col (retd) Bhuwanesh Thapa said.

Brijesh had told his parents that he had reached the base camp after walking downhill for five hours.

“He told us that he would again be going back to the area of operation and would have to trek uphill for around six hours,” Bhuwanesh said. “As a father, I had asked him to take care.”

Brijesh’s area of operation had no road connectivity, he added.

“Throughout his life, he never used to complain about anything,” Nilima said.

Brijesh was with his family for about three weeks in March this year.

“He was exploring the possibility of taking leave in July but with the operations going on, he was not sure whether he could visit us this month. He had also planned a vacation in November,” said Bhuwanesh, whose call to his son on Monday morning went unanswered.

“I came to know about the fateful incident around 10.30 last night, I could not believe it,” Bhuwanesh said. “I am proud that he gave his life for the nation. We will miss him for the rest of our lives.”

Brijesh is survived by his parents and elder sister Nikhita, who is in Australia learning music. “She is expected to reach Siliguri by tomorrow. We, too, will go to Darjeeling along with the mortal remains tomorrow,” Bhuwanesh added.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee condoled Brijesh’s death. “Sad to know that Brijesh Thapa, a young Army officer from Darjeeling, sacrificed his life in the line of duty in Jammu and Kashmir. My sincere condolences,” she posted on X.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh also expressed his condolences. “Deeply saddened by the loss of our brave and courageous Indian Army Soldiers in a counter-terrorist operation in Urrar Baggi, Doda (J&K). My heart goes out to the bereaved families. The Nation stands firmly with the families of our soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty,” he posted on X.