NEW DELHI: Not many of them fell to fidayeen bullets but they were bravehearts no less. The men and women of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who were guarding various gates of Parliament on the fateful day of December 13, 2001, were the reason why the five rampaging militants' designs were thwarted.
They killed with clinical precision all the terrorists one by one before the jihadis could enter Parliament to kill and take hostage members of India's political elite.
The suspicious movement of the beacon-fitted white Ambassador that the terrorists traveled in was first spotted by CRPF's woman constable Kamlesh Kumari and Watch and Ward staff J P Yadav when it entered from the main gate on Parliament Street side and started speeding. Both Yadav and Kumari ran from gate No.11 to stop it, only to fall to the bullets of the terrorists. Kumari was awarded Ashok Chakra by the President for her valiant effort.
After abandoning the car at gate No.11, the terrorists ran towards gate No.1 where head constable Y B Thapa and constable Sukhvinder Singh, taking guard behind a pillar and a wall, fired at one of the terrorists, a suicide bomber, who blew himself up.
"I can never forget that day. I had come to Delhi from Assam only two months ago and was still getting a hang of Parliament security," Thapa said. He was posted at gate No.1 as guard commander with Sukhvinder assisting him. The duo mistook the first grenade blast for cracker fire but soon saw five men running, spraying bullets.
"I ran and took position behind a pillar while Sukhvinder took guard behind a wall near gate No.3. We both started firing at one of the terrorists running towards gate No.1. Soon there was an explosion and I saw the terrorist had died. When I tried to move, I just couldn't. I looked and there was blood all over. I had been hit," said Thapa who then limped to the CRPF tent even as bullets kept flying behind him.
Thapa took one bullet in his thigh while other was lodged in his knee and has remained there ever since. "It could not be taken out as it was lodged in my bone. It keeps reminding of that day," Thapa said. His subordinate Sukhvinder too sustained bullet injury in the abdomen but survived.
However, the most effective of all was D Santosh Kumar, then a young sepoy with CRPF, who positioned himself strategically and shot dead three terrorists at gate No.9. "I was at gate No.6. As soon as I heard the burst of fire, I knew it was an attack. I took position behind a tree and soon saw three terrorists running towards gate No.9. They wanted to enter Parliament but as they were being fired at from the other side, they were forced to take position near the gate," recalled Kumar.
This worked in Kumar's favour as the AK 47-toting terrorists were in his direct line of fire. "I took aim with my SLR and one by one shot all three of them," said Kumar who did not sustain any injury. A proud Kumar is still guarding the edifices of democracy with his current posting being at Vidhan Bhawan in Delhi.
The fifth terrorist who had run towards gate No.5 was shot dead by CRPF constable Shyambir Singh. Amidst all this chaos was "ready-to-retire" inspector Mohan Prasad who commanded the men through deft strategy. "He was an old man on the verge of retirement. But he had great energy. He guided us throughout the attack, running from one gate to another shouting, 'Idhar se gher, udhar mar'," reminisced Kumar.
All four CRPF men who shot dead terrorists were awarded Shaurya Chakra with an out-of-turn promotion. Kumar, however, said while the central government rewarded him, state government in UP, from where he belongs, did not consider his effort worthy of any reward. "Other people were rewarded by their respective state governments. I feel sad, but it's ok," said Kumar.
CRPF’s braveheart men and women foiled terrorists’ designs
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CRPF’s braveheart men and women foiled terrorists’ designs
