As the Kargil War intensified in the summer of 1999, the Indian Army scored a major breakthrough by capturing Tololing on June 13. With that strategic victory secured, attention turned to Point 5140 — the highest and most heavily defended feature on the Tololing ridgeline.Standing nearly 17,000 feet above sea level, Point 5140 overlooked the Dras sector and allowed Pakistani troops to direct artillery fire on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, India’s critical supply route to Ladakh and the Siachen Glacier. Capturing the peak was essential to regaining control of the area.The mission was assigned to the 13th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, commanded by then Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi, who would later head both the Leh-based 14 Corps and the Army’s Northern Command.Reconnaissance identified seven enemy sangars on the feature, with the eastern approach offering the best chance of success despite formidable defences. Lt Col Joshi tasked Bravo Company, led by Captain (now Colonel) Sanjeev Singh Jamwal, and Delta Company, led by Captain Vikram Batra, with attacking from the south and east respectively.Before the assault, Jamwal chose “Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah!” as his success signal, while Batra selected the now-iconic “Yeh Dil Maange More!”The attack began shortly after midnight on June 20 under heavy artillery cover. As the shelling lifted, Pakistani troops opened intense machine-gun fire, prompting both company commanders to request continued artillery support until their troops closed in on the objective.By 3:15 am, both companies had reached the enemy positions. Captain Jamwal led a fierce assault on the first two sangars, killing three enemy soldiers in hand-to-hand combat before clearing another bunker. His leadership inspired his men, and Bravo Company secured its objective by 3:30 am. Jamwal then radioed his success with his chosen code words: “Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah!”Meanwhile, Captain Batra led Delta Company along a daring eastern approach, scaling a near-vertical cliff under heavy enemy fire. After launching rockets at Pakistani bunkers, he led his men in a surprise assault, personally engaging enemy soldiers in close combat. Despite sustaining injuries, he continued fighting, eliminating four intruders and silencing machine-gun positions with grenades.By 4:35 am, Point 5140 had been captured. Batra announced the victory over the radio with the words that would become synonymous with his legacy: “Yeh Dil Maange More!”At least ten Pakistani soldiers were killed in the battle, while Indian troops captured a heavy machine gun and recovered a cache of weapons. Remarkably, neither Bravo nor Delta Company suffered any fatal casualties.The capture of Point 5140 proved to be a decisive moment in the Kargil War. It paved the way for subsequent victories at Point 5100, Point 4700, Junction Peak and the Three Pimples complex, helping India regain control of key positions in the Dras sector.For their gallantry, Lt Col Yogesh Kumar Joshi, Captain Sanjeev Singh Jamwal, Captain Vikram Batra, Naik Dev Prakash and Rifleman Mehar Singh were awarded the Vir Chakra. Batra would later be awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his bravery during the capture of Point 4875.
