Quick Take
- A Kirti Chakra was approved for Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF of 21 Para (Special Forces) on August 14, 2026.
- Seven of the nine Kirti Chakras in that list are posthumous. Two are not.
- His Shaurya Chakra citation dates the earlier action to January 4 and 5, 2023, in Manipur.
A Kirti Chakra went to Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF of 21 Para (Special Forces), an officer from Senapati district in Manipur, on August 14, 2026.
Peoples Feed checked the Maneo Francis Kirti Chakra entry against Ministry of Defence release 2299540. President Droupadi Murmu approved 78 gallantry awards that evening, 13 of them posthumous. Nine were Kirti Chakras.
The award sits against a worsening picture in his home state. Manipur recorded 226 insurgency incidents in 2024, up from 187 in 2023. Those figures are in a Ministry of Home Affairs note dated December 18, 2025.
Across the North East the trend runs the other way. The same note counts 1,234 incidents in 2004, 294 in 2024 and 143 up to November 30, 2025. Manipur is the exception inside a falling curve.
Three of the Nine Kirti Chakras Went to Para (Special Forces)
Three of the nine Kirti Chakras approved on August 14, 2026 went to special forces battalions of the Parachute Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF serves in 21 Para (Special Forces).
Major Jitendra Rathee and Havildar Gajendra Singh are both from 2 Para (Special Forces). The award to Havildar Gajendra Singh is posthumous.
Six Kirti Chakras went to police and central force personnel under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Every one of the six is posthumous. Head Constable Jagbir Singh, Inspector Sunil Kumar and Head Constable Bashir Ahmad are among them.
Two more Para (Special Forces) men appear in the Shaurya Chakra list. They are Naib Subedar Dabbal Singh Bisht of 21 Para (Special Forces) and Havildar Jagattar Singh of 4 Para (Special Forces).
Peoples Feed counted 14 Army names across the two chakra lists of August 14, 2026. Five of those 14 are from Para (Special Forces). That is 35.7% of the Army total, from a handful of battalions.
The Shaurya Chakra Citation Dates the Earlier Action to January 2023
The Shaurya Chakra citation places Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF in Manipur on January 4 and 5, 2023. He held the rank of Major then. The Press Information Bureau published the citation with the Republic Day 2024 award list.
It gives his army number as IC-76640X. His unit is named as the 21st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).
The citation says he built intelligence networks that tracked Valley Based Insurgent Groups. Word then reached him of a planned sabotage attack on a VIP. Surveillance found an insurgent crossing point near a Border Pillar.
He laid an ambush there. Four armed men walked into it and opened automatic fire. The citation records that he moved to outflank them.
At close range he killed a “Self Style Major, Commander of an insurgent group” and injured a second man. Intelligence marked those men as masterminds behind an ambush on Assam Rifles, the citation says. It does not name the ambush.
Manipur Is Where the North East Numbers Stop Falling
Manipur is the one North East state where the Ministry of Home Affairs records violence rising. Its December 18, 2025 note counts 187 insurgency incidents there in 2023 and 226 in 2024.
Thirty-five civilians were killed in the state in 2023 and 30 in 2024. Seven security force personnel died there in 2023 and three in 2024.
The note gives its own reason. “The increase of insurgency related violence in 2023 and 2024 was primarily due to ethnic strife in Manipur,” it says.
Region wide the direction is opposite. Civilian deaths across the North East fell from 414 in 2004 to 30 in 2024, and to 5 up to November 30, 2025. Security force deaths fell from 1,099 to 3 and then to 2.
The action that earned Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF his Shaurya Chakra came on January 4 and 5, 2023. The citation names his targets as Valley Based Insurgent Groups.
The Record, Verified
The verified record of Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF runs to four dated entries, three of them government documents. Peoples Feed opened each one on September 10, 2026.
| Date | What happened | Source document |
|---|---|---|
| January 4 and 5, 2023 | Action in Manipur against Valley Based Insurgent Groups | PIB gallantry citation document, Republic Day 2024 |
| January 25, 2024 | Shaurya Chakra approved. Listed as IC-76640X Maj Maneo Francis PF, 21 Para (SF) | PIB release 1999669 and its attached award list |
| August 14, 2026 | Kirti Chakra approved. Listed as Lt Col Maneo Francis PF, SC, 21 Para (Special Forces) | PIB release 2299540 |
| August 15, 2026 | Home village reported as Tadubi, Senapati district, Manipur | Assam Tribune and North East Now |
The Republic Day 2024 cycle carried 80 gallantry awards, 12 of them posthumous. It held 6 Kirti Chakras and 16 Shaurya Chakras.
Two other special forces officers took Shaurya Chakras in that list. Captain Shubham Gupta of 9 Para (Special Forces) was honoured posthumously. Captain Vimanyu Tyagi came from 2 Para (Special Forces).
The Maneo Francis Kirti Chakra Citation Is Not Public Yet
The Maneo Francis Kirti Chakra citation has not been published. Release 2299540 names the award, the rank and the unit. It carries no citation file and no attached document.
North East Now reported on August 15, 2026 that the award followed a seven day operation in Manipur. A hidden insurgent pinned down the assault team, that report says, and the officer crossed open ground to end the threat.
gallantryawards.gov.in holds the government archive of citations. It did not load from our systems on September 10, 2026. Peoples Feed has therefore not read the Kirti Chakra text.
One limit applies to both awards. The only account of what happened inside either operation is the Army’s own. No independent witness account appears in any source we opened.
Peoples Feed searched Press Information Bureau releases, Ministry of Home Affairs North East Division papers, the Assam Tribune and North East Now on September 10, 2026 and found no published criticism, pending inquiry or disputed claim against Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF in connection with this work.
What Happens Next
The Kirti Chakra will be presented to Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF at a Defence Investiture Ceremony. President Droupadi Murmu hands over these awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan in phases.
At the 2026 Phase-I ceremony on June 8, 2026 she conferred 7 Kirti Chakras, 15 Vir Chakras and 29 Shaurya Chakras. Forty-seven personnel were decorated that day.
No date has been announced for the next phase. The Kirti Chakra citation has not been issued either. Peoples Feed will add both to this page when the government publishes them.
The Ministry of Defence Year End Review 2025 sets the scale of the work. In the North East in 2025 it counted 26 insurgents neutralised, 1,024 apprehended, 111 surrendered and 542 weapons recovered.
What this means for you: If you are sitting the NDA, the CDS or an SSB interview, this page collects the primary documents behind two gallantry awards. Read the release of August 14, 2026 and the Republic Day 2024 citation document before you quote any detail from them.
Peoples Feed Insight
Read the two 2026 chakra lists side by side and a split shows up. Seven of nine Kirti Chakras were posthumous, and six of those seven went to police and central force personnel, not to soldiers. The Army’s three all went to Parachute Regiment special forces battalions, and two of those three are not posthumous. That pattern says something about who is sent into first contact and who absorbs the losses. Watch the citation when it is notified. If it places the Kirti Chakra action in Manipur, one state will have produced two chakra series awards to the same officer inside four years.
By Avinash Mishra, Governance Correspondent
About Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF
Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis PF is a serving officer of 21 Para (Special Forces), an Indian Army special forces battalion. The Ministry of Defence approved a Kirti Chakra for him on August 14, 2026. He already held the Shaurya Chakra, approved on January 25, 2024, for an action in Manipur on January 4 and 5, 2023.
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