The 16th Capt Jintu Gogoi, Veer Chakra Memorial Football Tournament kick started at the Polo Ground in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh on Sunday.
The football tournament is organized by ‘Dao Division’ under Operation Sadbhavna, as a mark of tribute to Kargil martyr Capt Jintu Gogoi.
Noted litterateur and former Asom Sahitya Sabha president Nagen Saikia and general officer commanding of Dao Division Major General Sanjeev Chauhan were the chief guests on the occasion.
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Before the kick-off, tributes were paid to Late Captain Jintu Gogoi, while his father honorary retired flying officer T R Gogoi was felicitated.
As many as 24 teams from upper Assam are participating in the tournament.
These including two teams from Army (17 Garhwal Rifles which was the parent unit team of Late Captain Jintu Gogoi and Dao Division team.
Four girls’ teams are also participating in the tournament.
The inaugural match was played between Moran Town Women 11 and Tengakhat College Girls’ team which the former won by 8-0 margin.
For Moran Town Women 11, Simi Gogoi scored four goals followed by Sumi Urang with three goals and Pokhila Bora with one goal.
Since 2004, the Army has been hosting this tournament in Dibrugarh in memory of Kargil war hero Jintu Gogoi.
The 28-year old young Army captain of 17 Garhwal Rifles sacrificed his life while fighting Pakistani intruders in Juber Hills in the Batalik sub-sector on June 30, 1999.
Gogoi was posthumously decorated with the Vir Chakra for displaying great valour and courage while leading his troop and fighting the enemy in extreme harsh weather and inhospitable mountainous terrain.
The young captain singlehandedly killed two enemy soldiers before making the supreme sacrifice for the nation.
The Kargil war claimed the lives of 527 Indian soldiers.
Capt Gogoi, was recalled from leave to join his unit barely 12 days after his engagement and was ordered to take the picket on the Juber Hill.
Of the four companies that went into battle one officer and eleven jawans did not return.
Gogoi, a resident of Khumati in Golaghat district of Assam was posthumously conferred the Bir Chilarai Award by the government in 2007.
Born on November 21, 1970 Gogoi joined the Officers Training Academy, Chennai on May 9, 1984 and was commissioned into the 17 Garhwal Rifles on March 11, 1995.
