Injured jawans save rifle cache
A.S.R.P. Mukesh
Lohardaga, May 4: They were sitting ducks in the eye of a landmine storm, courtesy an operation grossly misjudged by seniors. And yet they showed admirable courage and resolve to save a warrior’s wealth — his weapons.
Sanjay Toppo at Senha barracks on Wednesday. Picture by Prashant Mitra
The 150-strong security squad combing the forests of Lohardaga had an enviable cache of more than 100 semi-automatic rifles. If Maoists had laid their hands on the arms, it could have increased their firepower manifold. But the intrepid jawans, despite serious injuries, managed to protect all, but two that were destroyed in a blast.
Sanjay Toppo, a constable at Senha police station, was flung 100 metres away when a landmine exploded. He was 10th in line, right behind district armed police constables Pramod Rai and Dinesh Mahto, who were killed.
“When I opened my eyes, I saw the mutilated leg of one of my colleagues. I too felt a searing pain and couldn’t move for minutes. My eyes were hazy... my mind in a daze... and then I heard my OC P.C. Deogam, also injured, shouting, ‘stand up and kill’,” Toppo said.
The gutsy 26-year-old slung six guns — two Insas rifles and four AK-47s — on his shoulders and returned fire. “Both Pramod and Dinesh were carrying Insas. I also picked up three more rifles as I advanced,” Toppo said.
He maintained that the sole reason he was still alive was that he did not allow Maoist mind games — using loudspeakers asking policemen to lay down arms — to get the better of him.
Mahadeo Barla, also a district police constable, couldn’t agree more. He and three other jawans formed a spot team to launch counter-fire. “We stood in a circle. While three of us fired, one was given the responsibility to search for weapons. We kept doing this in turns for an hour and managed to collect 14 rifles,” the jawan said. Had the rebels seized our weapons, more would have been slain, he added.
Another jawan, not willing to be named, said: “Just a week ago, my wife gave birth to a daughter. I haven’t yet seen her. So, I wanted to live and I knew the best defence was to attack till I could.”
Despite the heavy casualty they suffered, these bravehearts have reason to pat themselves. “Neither did we surrender, nor did we allow rebels to take our weapons away,” they said in unison.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110505/jsp/jharkhand/story_13941188.jsp
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