During his posting in Sopore, Batra had several encounters with militants. In one of those encounters when Batra was leading an ambush with his platoon into an area of dense forest, he had a miraculous escape when a bullet fired by a militant grazed his shoulder and struck one of Batra's men behind him, killing the soldier. Batra proceeded to order his men to nab the militants, and by morning all of the militants had been killed. Batra, however, was saddened, because he knew that the bullet was meant for him. ""Didi", it was meant for me and I lost my man," he had told his elder sister over the phone.