 The success of this militant flush-out operation, which claimed his life, earned him the highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield, the Ashok Chakra.In 1984, Lal joined the 8th Battalion, The Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment.In 1987, he volunteered and participated in an operation to capture the quaid post which was later called the Bana Top, located at 21,153 feet in the Siachen Glacier, for which he was awarded the Sena Medal (Gallantry).