One day as he was leading a convoy of two vehicles back from Mangani, militants armed with AK-47's launched a sudden attack. A rocket struck his vehicle and Sandhu was grievously wounded. Though bleeding heavily he crawled out carbine in hand. He waited for the firing to stop, knowing that when it stopped, the militants would emerge to claim the jeeps' weapons and ammunition. Sandhu was determined to prevent this.

As the firing died away, a militant approached the jeep, and Sandhu lifted his carbine and sprayed him with bullets, killing him insistently. This was Kumaran, a prominent militant leader Sandhu continued firing, till his very last breath thwarting all militant attempts to approach the jeep.

For his supreme sacrifice, 2nd lt. Sandhu was with the Mahavir Chakra.