Bengaluru, Jan 16, 2022: Fifteen Sena medals were awarded to army personnel on Thursday during the Army Day celebrations in New Delhi for gallantry in combat operations. Among the winners was a Mangalurean, Major Neil Silas Lobo.As per his commendation, Major Lobo, a member of the 8th Light Cavalry but seconded to the Rashtriya Rifles, showed courage during cordoning operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
His citation noted that during the operations on October 19, 2020, Lobo crawled towards the positions of terrorists in the face of heavy, indiscriminate firing. He subsequently engaged the fleeing militants at close range. He is said to have killed two.
Major Neil was born on July 7, 1990, to former professor and Bajal parishioner Leo Lobo and teacher Matilda Fernandes of Neermarga parish. Married to Shriya Sikchi, Major Neil is the father of 11-month-old boy Nathan Caleb Lobo.
Lobo was a student of St Joseph’s Boys’ High School and subsequently attained a BBM from St Joseph’s Commerce College. He graduated from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, on December 13, 2014, and was commissioned into the Armoured Corps.