A day earlier, there had been a minor scuffle between the Sikh sentries of the 10 J&K Rifles and their Chinese counterparts on a flat patch of icy land of about 5 meters on the unmarked boundary. It had a boulder about 30 cm in height in the center of the narrow crest which marked the dividing line, according to the waterseed principle. Three Indians and an equal number of Chinese sentries were positioned on either side of the boulder, 2 metres from each other. During the fisticuffs, a Chinese sentry was roughed up and he lost a tunic button. The Chinese were thus smarting under a temporary reverse. This fact came to Major K.B. Joshi (Battalion CO 7/11 GR) much later. Having reached Twin huts by September 30, the two companies occupied forward positions by October 1. Major Joshi informed Lt. Rathore that he was on his way to Point 15450 and would be there by 0930 hours on October 1.
Fighting Starts
Major Joshi reached Rai Gap on the way to D Coy positions by 0915 hours. The sentry post at Pt. 15450 was visible from there. Just then he observed that the post was being surrounded by a section strength of Chinese troops. A second section was seen circumventing the D Coy platoon position along the northern cliff in a single file. Major Joshi at once informed Lt. Rathore of what he had seen. The later informed Major Joshi that the Chinese Coy Cdr. and the political commissar were staking claims to the boulder at the sentry post. Naib Subedar Gyan Bahadur Limbu was having a heated argument with his counterpart at the sentry post during which he rested his right foot on the boulder under dispute. The Chinese kicked his foot away. Gyan put his foot back and challenged them. Events were moving quickly.
By this time the Chinese had taken up position, presumably because their commander had already taken a decision to escalate the incident. And one of the Chinese sentries bayoneted Gyan wounding him in the arm. The Gorkha's response was swift. Both arms of the Chinese who hit the JCO were chopped off with a Khukri. At this point the Chinese opened fire and the two sides engaged in a firefight at close range. Lance Naik Krishna Bahadur, the Post Cdr., then led a charge against the Chinese in the vicinity who were forming up for an assault. Although hit & incapacitated, he continued to harangue his men forward. Rifleman Devi Prasad Limbu directly behind his Post Cdr. was already engaged in a close quarter battle with the enemy and his Khukri took off five Chinese heads.
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