Unsung heroes 2014 english net edition

We Salute Our Police Martyrs

Homage to the Patriotic Warriors Police reforms: Now is the time

Editor Pandarinath Prabhala Associate Editors Vijay Nellutla Silveri Srisailam

Advertising support Sri Charana Communications Content Coordination Palle Anjaneyulu

Admin. Head: Ravinder Rao Panuganti Marketing Head: M Nikhil Reddy Design & Layout: Srinivas T

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My Word

Pandarinath Prabhala Editor

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Purging of Naxalism: A Tale of Relentless Battle

Police sacrifices: Unhonoured Page

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Sacrifices dot the battle against Left Wing Terrorism

Printed & Published by Pandarinath Prabhala on behalf of FAIR media,

Administrative office: FAIR Media, Flat No. 101, Babu Complex, SRK Puram, Hyderabad 500035, Mobile: 9666242767 Email: info.fairmedia@gmail.com

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Close encounter with death!

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Eswar: The Great Warrior

Need of national will to fight against terrorism

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Heroes don’t live for Eulogies!

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IPS Martyrs Supreme Sacrifice Page

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A Hero in Life and death Page

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Koi Sikh Koi Jat Maratha..Koi Gurkha Koi Madrasi..Sarhad par Marne Wale...Har Veer Tha Bharat Vasi Sacrifice knows no region, religion. These immortal lines by Kavi Pradeep aptly describe the derring-do, the valour and the spirit of sacrifice of the men in uniform. If the jawans of the army protect us from external threats, the police personnel strive every moment of their lives to ensure internal security. They were never found wanting when the call for supreme sacrifice came.

Constables and top cops alike, they were ever willing to risk their lives for our safety and security.

It is sad that the people by and large tend to forget the police martyrs. It is heart-wrenching to see their brave deeds become mere footnotes in the history of Independent India. Have you ever seen any other government servant dying thunderstruck in the dead of the night? Only policemen die that way. It is only the policemen who get mowed down by an unruly vehicle while performing duties. A Naxal bullet, a deceitful landmine, a dacoit's machet, a robbers knife or a rash driver's sudden swerve - can bring an end to a policeman's life.

But, what motivates the police personnel to plod on regardless? What makes them ever willing to risk their lives? Not pay packet, nor the perks, not even the ex-gratias. It is the deeply felt desire to see a peaceful and safe India and to see its countless people live without fear.

Fairmedia, has always been moved by the unsung and unhonoured sacrifices of the men and women in Khaki. Every year, October 21 for us is an occasion to remember the martyred policemen with pride and gratitude. Here's our humble offering to their hallowed memory. We hope this effort of ours will motivate the people to honour the sacrifices of our policemen and women.

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

Are the police sacrificial lambs?

Police, day in and day out, face the Hamletian dilemma of to do or not to do. They opt for the former facing grave risks to their lives. Statistics of deaths of policemen in the line of duty is staggering and chilling. Nowhere in the world so many policemen make the supreme sacrifices for their country

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n that fateful day, on October 21, 1959, in the hostile terrain of Ladakh, 10 gallant policemen of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) fell to enemies’ bullets in the altar of duty while safeguarding Indian territory from Chinese aggressors. Every year, police forces all over India observe October 21 as Police Commemoration Day, not only to pay homage to those brave ten, but also to remember and revere hundreds of policemen, who continue to give their today for our better tomorrow.

These sacrifices are made while defending the country from external threats, fighting internal antisocial elements, disintegrating secessionists, insurgents, terrorists and extremist elements, communal and divisive forces and criminals and ensuring peaceful conditions in society. Even as they are maligned and derided by others, policemen have always lived up to their credo – Duty unto Death. For these brave men, no bell tolls and a large section of society, which makes a hue and cry when an anti-national element or a terrorist dies in the hands of police, remains insensitive to the deaths of policemen while performing their duties. It is sad that the Government of India has not yet thought it fit to have a National Police Memorial in Delhi nor observe the Police Commemoration Day with due solemnity.

Police, day in and day out, face the Hamletian dilemma of to do or not to do. They opt for the former facing grave risks to their lives. Statistics of deaths of policemen in the line of duty is staggering and chilling. Nowhere in the world, so many policemen make the supreme sacrifices for their country. A research study indicates that nearly 45

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per cent of the deceased police personnel in India were under 35 and 10 per cent of them were less than 25 years of age indicating that they were snatched away by death in the prime of their life. Since Independence, police fatalities are more than the fatalities suffered by the defense forces in the four wars and the IPKF operations. Antinational and anti-social forces are now targeting policemen and their families – casualties among them are being increasingly reported.

Can a liberal democracy afford to remain complacent in the face of these facts and figures? Shouldn’t an effort be made to halt the trend and reverse the tide? It may be argued that risk to life is an occupational hazard for policeman. While an occasional loss of life is unavoidable and inevitable, the staggering numbers of deaths as compared to other countries should make us ponder over the causes and consider possible solutions to reduce police fatalities.

Lack of Role Clarity What is the role of police? Is police a civilian organisation to prevent and detect crime and maintain civil order as adumbrated in the Police Act of 1861 or a force to fight elements of destabilisation and low intensity conflicts? Police are armed, trained and mentally equipped to be an unarmed service eschewing use of force and avoiding deaths to citizens in their operations. Legal and procedural requirements stress on this aspect.

When pitted against the elements of destabilisation, police often find that they are ill-equipped, ill-trained and mentally not prepared to adapt to conditions of urban and rural guerrilla warfare. Even the paramilitary forces

Dr. S. SUBRAMANIAN

are not trained or equipped specifically to fight low intensity conflicts. It is high time that the role police is clearly defined and one wing of the police is specially trained and equipped to deal with low intensity conflicts and guerrilla warfare launched by the Maoists.

Review of Procedures and Legal Norms for Police Operations

At present, police are operating under legal norms and procedures evolved over 100 years ago, when the situation was idyllic. These norms are now no way appropriate to deal with the elements of destabilization prevalent today. There should be a clear-cut differentiation between the legal norms and procedures applicable to law abiding citizens and those to be followed in respect of anti-nationals and anti-socials who defy the existence of the nation. As observed by an American Jurist, Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact entered into by the USA with its enemies for its own destruction. While citizens, who subscribe to the concepts of Rule of Law and Equality before Law and who accept the State as a holistic social organisation, should be entitled to have all the rights and privileges guaranteed to the citizens by the very same system which they seek to destroy.

Motivation and Morale of Police

Self-esteem is an essential component to motivate humans. Police are often condemned and denigrated as an organisation for the faults of a few individual members. Policemen are expected to don the mantle of an ideal citizen and in spite of the best training, leadership and guidance, in large human

organisations, there will always be a few black sheep. While ruthless efforts are to be made to weed these out, the entire police organisation should not be condemned. People should support police for their right actions and punish the errant squarely. Media and nongovernmental organisations can play a vital role in this.

Separation of Law enforcement and Order maintenance

One of the debilitating roles of police is order maintenance. Contrary to popular belief, Law and Order do not go hand in hand and law is not an instrument of order and frequently it is its adversary.

Order under Law implies rational restraint upon rules and procedures used to achieve Order. Order under Law, subordinates the ideal of conformity to the ideal of legality. Order maintenance demands initiative and quick action and Law emphasises on procedures and circumspection and demands conformity with procedures and adherence to norms or legality.

As it happens during communal riots policemen have to enforce Order against the will of the society. On such occasions, policemen become the islands of sanity amidst the ocean of hatred and bigotry.

There is an urgent need to bifurcate the roles of Law Enforcement and Order Maintenance by having two distinct

wings in the police service.

Empower the Police

Police need functional autonomy when dealing with elements of destabilisation. They are to be provided with the required legal, administrative, financial and infrastructural support.

Since police are meant to serve the people, people should take active interest in forcing the government to provide the required tools to the police.

The police modernisation programme of the Government of India is too meager and ineffective to deal with the multiple threats being faced by the country.

Give up Police Bashing

Society should realise that policing is its own function and police organisation is only a substitute to spare them from actual physical participation.

Active cooperation between the public and the police are required and NGOs and public-spirited citizens can promote this. Police bashing should be given up as the favourite pastime and instead police backing should become the credo. An indifferent society will get an indifferent and inefficient police service. Constant interaction and close supervision by the society will keep the police organisation in the right path.

Police leadership should also ensure that there is more transparency in the working of the police organisation to

HOTSPRINGS HERO KARAM SINGH

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or people the National Police Day on October 21 ‘might be a special occasion as it reminds of our police force's valour, DSP Karam Singh, the man who, on this day in 1959 gave tough time to the enemy in the Hotsprings conflict, which, proved to be the prelude to the 1962 Sino-India war. DSP Karam Singh, hailing from Gujjranwala in Pakistan, settled in Raikot in Ludhiana district after partition of the country, was on deputation with a central intelligence agency and posted in the Ladakh area as part of a contingent in view of suspicious activities in the region on the part of certain anti-national elements.

He was heading a company of 19 personnel, patrolling the Hotsprings area as usual on October 21 when he, and his team was ambushed by Chinese troops in what was later described as onset of the growing Chinese intolerance towards India.

The team ‘comprising mostly officials of border intelligence agencies repulsed the attack in a rare show of courage and nearly 10 of them lost lives while, rest of them, including, DSP Karam Singh, were captured by Chinese troops and detained in harsh conditions. They were, released on November 14, 1959, by China following intervention of then Foreign Minister Krishna Menon.

invoke public cooperation.

confidence

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Civil Society – Be Truly Civil

It is heartrending to see wellmeaning members of civil society, who shed copious tears when an antinational, militant or a disintegrationist is killed or maimed in police operations, keep mum when police personnel are killed in cold blood. Are the police personnel not citizens of India who are entitled to enjoy the same privileges like any other citizen in the country? Or shall they remain sacrificial lambs of the society? It is time, the so called civil society activists realised their obligations to protect impartially all citizens which include policemen.

Society Gets the Police it Wants Police are there to protect the society from unlawful elements. Quality of a society is reflected on the quality of police service it has. Unless the society takes active interest in creating an ethical and lawful police organisation, the quality of police in India will not improve. Police in India has stood as a bulwark against all forces of disintegration and destabilisation and let the society help it to continue to provide peaceable conditions to enable the nation to become a prosperous and powerful one.

(The author is Padmashri awardee and former Director General of CRPF and NSG and Founder Director of SPG)

Karam Singh, who, had lost toes to frostbite, was honoured with the President’s Medal by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Since then the nation started observing the day as the National Police Day.

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Homage to the Patriotic Warriors

WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

Everyone should remember that even police are human beings. They do have their families. They have their share of troubles and tears. A police officer's family will have the same kind of sorrow if he dies in duty like any other family in the society

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n 1959 October 21st Aksai Chin, a place of hot springs, at 18000 feet above sea level, is a part of Ladakh in Indian border.

Like every day Indian soldiers were on their routine. But that day was different. The guards, who are keeping their mother land under strict surveillance, abruptly confronted Chinese intruders in large numbers. Despite their limited strength, Indian CRPF combatants didn’t move back. They geared themselves up to attack Chinese intruders with full vigor and courage.

Warfare of equals went on in which 10 CRPF warriors lost their lives. They sacrificed their lives for protecting the country. Puran Singh, Sharwan Das, Hang Jeet Subho, Iman Singh, Dharam Singh, Shivnadh Prasad, Norbu Lama, Makhan Lal, Beg Raj, and Nonbu forfeited their lives in that gruesome incident.

This uncompromising war by 10 warriors filled the policemen across the country with indomitable moral fibre. Together this unpleasant war also packed the hearts of crores of Indians with gloominess. By fighting an unbending war in the process of prohibiting rival soldiers intrusion, they have not only stood as role models to fellow soldiers, but also as a source of inspiration. And this class of warriors only could publish the greatness of India and safeguard the country’s self-worth.

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In a meeting of Police Inspector Generals' of all states, which took place in January 1960, it was decided that on every October 21st, homage should be paid to policemen who lost their lives while performing duties in the memory of those 10 soldiers who lost their lives at Aksai Chin. Since then, October 21st of every year is being observed as “Police Martyrs Commemoration Day” Several policemen are sacrificing their lives every year in the throes of protecting peace in the country.

Unfortunately majority of people are not recognizing such prized and valued sacrifices. But common public

express sympathy for them who die in natural disasters like hurricanes or earth quakes. Similar case with the soldiers who forgo their lives in wars.

But not evincing any sympathy on policemen who lose their lives in duty is definitely atrocious.

Everyone should remember that even police are human beings. They do have their families. They have their share of troubles and tears.

A police officer's family will have the same kind of sorrow if he dies in duty like any other family in the society. Policemen are not immune to pains or pressures. Such families which lose the breadwinners in duty will have to go through a number of troubles and hassles.

If a policeman, who puts his life at stake to give a peaceful living to common people, dies in duty, everyone should have compassion and empathy towards his families.

If a police passes away while trying to protect law and order, such demise is not just a loss to his family but to the system. It is quite awful to find that the society which comes down heavily on any mistake committed by police personnel stays indifferent and apathetic when it comes to recognizing the grand sacrifices made by them.

Forget about praising such sacrifices, an iota of recognition of such forfeitures is missing. But for the police personnel, whatever the kind of criticism they face from public, they should conduct their duties without any prejudice and get due honours from common public.

It is our minimum responsibility to commemorate the great souls, the police, who keep all the pleasures aside. Let us pay the reverence in the memory of their services by expressing our gratitude and respond to their families sympathetically. Let us rededicate ourselves the sacred police profession.

(The author is Palle Anjaneyulu, a journalist)

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Eswar...

The Great Warrior

swar…. Ever smiling and always jovial…. This constable easily befriends and greets everyone cheerfully. The pride of being a policeman and a public servant shines brightly on his face. The self-respect of being a people’s protector is all too evident in his cheerful demeanor.

Eswar works in Hyderabad’s Shameerpet, which is an outskirt area.

This friendly and cheerful young lad, who always yearned to be a do-gooder, made the supreme sacrifice in the call of the duty. In death, he showed his courage, valour and duty-mindedness.

That fateful day was like any other day. He reported to the duties and cheerfully saluted SI Venkat Reddy.

The SI, who was impressed by the spring in his gait and twinkle in the eyes, asked him to get ready for the operation. Eswar, who believed in do and die not in asking what and why, said yes and moments later, he was ready and raring to go.

The task was to nab a gang involved in peddling counterfeit currency to

Soon, a police party was formed with three constables, including Eswar, and Venkat Reddy. They all posed like students of engineering.

destabilize India’s economy.

The gang was ruthless and criminal in its intent and action. The gang was led by dreaded Yellam Goud and was

The police team tried twice to meet Yellam Goud gang in the guise of prospective counterfeit peddlers. The gang came up to Siddipet, but did not meet them in person. They later called the team and told them to come to Majid Crossroads near Mirpet. The police team met them and interacted with them. But, the cunning foxes that the gang members were, they grew suspicious. They attacked the team with swords. Eswar was stabbed indiscriminately.

D. KAMAL armed to the hilt. They ruthlessly eliminated anyone who crossed their path.

The police team tried twice to meet Yellam Goud gang in the guise of prospective counterfeit peddlers. The gang came up to Siddipet, but did not meet them in person. They later called the team and told them to come to Majid Crossroads near Mirpet.

The police team met them and interacted with them. But, the cunning foxes that the gang members were, they grew suspicious. They attacked the team with swords. Eswar was stabbed indiscriminately. Eswar soon slumped into a pool of blood.

They tried to shoot SI Venkat Reddy.

When he escaped, they attacked him with swords and grievously injured.

Both Venkat Reddy and Eswar were rushed to the hospital, but Eswar succumbed en route.

The police later ended the free run of the gang. All the members are now cooling their heels in the prison cells.

But, the operation saw Eswar making supreme sacrifice.

As a journalist, I get to meet several police personnel and have experiences galore about their gallantry and gall. How they risk their lives and how they venture into danger zones utterly unmindful of the death lurking somewhere surprise me. The derring-do of the men in Khaki is the stuff that legends are made. Imagine what would our nation be without policemen. There are countless Constables like Eswar who have made supreme sacrifices so that we may live in peace.

(The author is Senior Journalist)

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

Police reforms: Now is the time

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When I joined as Bidar District Police Chief on first promotion in the Indian Police Service on June, 23, 1965, I was shocked that to discover that 60% of the 465 policemen of the district had not undergone any training

further inquired and found that due to the constraints of training capacity, lack of instructors, class rooms, parade grounds and weapons, the State training institution could take only two constables from my district.

I took up the matter with the Inspector General of Police, as the Chief of Police was then called. I received a curt reply that my district will have to wait its turn to get the policemen trained. Being only 25 years old, I was fired with enthusiasm to improve the standard of policing. I decided to act on my own. As the district head, I could call policemen for up to ten days for any duty. I ordered that each police station should depute two policemen for training. Some SHOs rang me up, saying that they had only eight constables to man 56 villages. With two vacancies, and one or two on leave, policing was always a problem. So with great difficulty they could send one policeman each for training. I had no option but to agree. I started the programme of training by pulling in the serving officers as instructors.

I also observed that Police Stations had no furniture, not even enough stationary, or even chairs for the visitors. When I wanted to sanction two chairs per police station, my accounts officer pointed out that my power was only to incur an expenditure of Rs, 20 for which at that time, you could purchase only one chair. I did so, and spent a princely sum of Rs18 for buying one chair per police station When I proposed in the State level District Police Chief Conference to give a weekly off to the Police men, I was laughed at. I was asked how I would meet any emergency. When I said that it is not physically possible for a person to work day after day for twelve hours, the

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chief said that I could try it in my district, which I did successfully.

The position obviously has not changed, even after six decades of independence as the then home minis¬ter has admitted in the first week of June, 2010 saying that the sorry state of affairs of policing in the country is due to the "inade¬quate and ill-equipped police forces as well as insufficient number of police station. “We need to at least double the police strength and cre¬ate necessary infrastructure to impart them quality train¬ing to improve the policing in the country,” he said.

He had frankly confessed that "Of the sanctioned posts of 21 lakhs in all ranks in the police departments in the states, nearly 3,35,000 posts are currently lying vacant. Thus, the police-population ratio for the whole country is about 160 per 1,00,000 persons, which is much lower than the inter¬national norm of 243….In a state like Bihar, the number is about 75: In UP it is about 115, in Andhra Pradesh it is about 125, in Odisha it is about 135, in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, two states most affected by Left wing extremism, it is about 205," Admitting, that not only there are not enough police stations, many many police stations lack required strength of police¬men, while some police stations exist only in name. Most states have not yet created infrastructures to impart even basic training to con¬stables.

It is not that the police is full of angels. It has its own share corrupt, dishonest and inefficient personnel, as in the rest of the Government. But the point is that how do you expect it to perform efficiently without giving it the wherewithal.

Neither equipping or training the police nor making it people-friendly is on the agenda of any government, despite

JOGINDER SINGH

the brave statements made by the powers that be. How do you expect the police to fight the Maoists with antiquated weaponry and equipment and without transport facility or night vision devices.

The problem in our country is not lack of ideas, but that of implementation. There is a plethora of committees, which have gone into the subject of reform in the Criminal Justice, System and Police. Committees After Committees And Commissions After Commissions. But Net Result Is Zero “There can be no doubt that the Police Force throughout the country is in a most unsatisfactory condition, that abuses are common everywhere. That this involves great injury to the people and discredit to the Government and that radical reforms are urgently necessary”, was the view of the Police Commission 1902-1903, set up by the British Government. The National Police Commission of 1977-81 of independent India under the Chairmanship of late Governor Dharmavira observed; “What the Police Commission said in 1903 appears more or less equally applicable to the conditions obtaining today”.

Kerala , West Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya , Delhi, Assam, UP, Tamilnadu, and practically every state has a State Police Commission, or a Committee report, apart from a dozen committees set up by the Central Government The list does not include other Committees set up almost every year, either by the Central or State Governments to tone up, and suggest ways and means to improve the working of the police. Even the September, 2006 orders of the Supreme Court to bring about police reforms have been resisted by a large of number of States, who do

not want to let go the control of police to enable it to function as per the law.

If the Committees and Commissions reports could improve, our country would have already become a heaven.

Since the last UPA Government came into power, it has created over 80 panels on every conceivable problem facing the country, right from the conservation of the tigers to improving knowledge through knowledge Commission. It is estimated that various governments between 1990 and 2002 had constituted 170 panels and committees.

This fits in with a standard operating law of Indian politics which says that instead of solving a problem, set up a committee and another Committee to examine former’s recommendations. One Committee or a Commission leads to another and this game goes on, with no hope for the common man.

Obviously, those who matter and can bring about improvement are safely cushioned in comfortable environs.

Unless the Government of India leads in reforming the police and take full responsibility of funding and training the police, both the Policemen and common people will continue to suffer.

Expectations from the Police

The citizen expects police officers to have the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of David, the strength of Samson, the patience of Job, the leadership of Moses, the kindness of the Good Samaritan, the faith of Daniel, the tolerance of the Carpenter of Nazareth ( Jesus Christ), and finally, an intimate knowledge of every branch of the natural, biological, and social sciences. If he had all of these, he would be a good policeman.

Allow the police to Work without Shackles

Police can manage and its excellent leadership can deliver, provided they are freed from the shackles of the bureaucrats, who exercise all authority, but no responsibility. Enough is enough and now is the time for action, if the problems associated with the internal security like insurgency, infiltration and Maoists are to be terminated.

(The author is former CBI Director)

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Cop on the street always at risk

sense of derring-do and commitment to the call of the duty are making the ordinary constables to risk their lives and put themselves to extreme dangers. Every time a cop chases a criminal, the danger of falling to a bullet always lurks close behind. The danger of being attacked by the criminal gangs is too real to be ignored.

Take the case of the hapless but courageous constable patrolling in the dead of the night at Delhi’s Connaught Circus. The drug mafia fired at him.

Though they managed to escape the bullets, it was their closest possible encounter with death.

Barely days after this shootout, hardened criminal Firoz Fouji felled constable Shivraj Tomar in Delhi.

Though armed only with a lathi, Shivraj did not shirk away from his call of duty. He tried to nab armed-to-theteeth Firoz.

On September 27, unidentified bikers snatched the service revolver of constable Dharampal near Mauzpur and shot him dead. Dharampal died in harness, in the call of duty and in honour of the khaki cap.

On October 2, constable Sonaram and home guard Ramesh were not found wanting in their duty. They were inspecting the papers of bikers in the busy Dwaraka area. But, one biker was in undue haste and this raised their suspicion. As they demanded to see the papers, the pillion rider whipped out a revolver and fired at them. The bullets pierced through Sonaram’s hands. Ramesh had injuries in his back. Yet, they showed exemplary courage and fought on bravely. They managed to overpower the criminals despite their bleeding injuries and burning pain. It later turned out that the bikers were hardcore criminals Mohammad Ali and Nasir Sultan.

On October 13, criminals fired at

the patrolling cops in Delhi’s Vijay Vihar area killing one and injuring another. Both the constables saw few people lurking suspiciously in an autorickshaw in the dead of the night in the L Block of Street No 7. The cops shouted ‘halt’ and advanced towards them. But, those inside the auto had other plans. They whipped up their

Yet, they showed exemplary courage and fought on bravely. They managed to overpower the criminals despite their bleeding injuries and burning pain. It later turned out that the bikers were hardcore criminals Mohammad Ali and Nasir Sultan guns and began firing indiscriminately.

Constable Jagbir died on the spot, while another constable – Narender – suffered gun wounds in the back.

Despite the technical advances and the modern policing equipment, the lives of the cops manning the streets are ever in danger of an attack. Illegal weapons of criminals are endangering the cops’ lives.

Despite their, the policeman on the street wants to bash on regardless.

-M. Harshit Choudary

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

A Tale of Relentless Battle

In the process of subduing the left wing extremism, the State police force has lost hundreds of its valiant officers and constables who fought a fierce battle

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he peace that our society enjoys today did not come that easy. With limited resources and unsophisticated weapons, our police force had to sacrifice many lives in the process of getting rid of the left wing extremism from Andhra Pradesh and bring back social order to the society.

It has been a gory story of bloodshed and murders. It cost the police force lives of hundreds of its young officers and constables in the combat against those extremists who had resorted to mindless attacks on policemen.

The Naxalite problem began in Andhra Pradesh way back in 1966 when the movement gained momentum in West Bangal after the Naxalbari incident. Scores of youngsters from Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts were attracted to the Naxalite ideology and left their studies in universities to join the Naxalbari movement.

Violence was rampant in Srikakulam district in those days. Hacking of zamindars, lootingmoney and foodgrains and distributing them among poor was the order of the day. Concrete steps were taken by the then government and the police department, particularly under the leadership of Vengal Rao. However, during the Emergency in 197577, the Naxalite movement lost its influence in the society due to stern actions by the police.

After the 1977 general elections, the Congress was defeated and a new government was formed by The Janata Party, which was sympathetic towards Naxalite leadership. Also, the Naxalite leaders who were arrested during emergency came in contact with Janata Party leaders in prisons. As a result,

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commissions were appointed against encounters, cases were registered against many police officers in different states.

TheNaxalite leaders did not stop there. Instead, they intensified their efforts to restart the movement.

Thistime, several front organisations were started. Separate organisations were formed for students, advocates,youth and farmers and farm labourers while armed units remained under cover and led the movement ahead.

The front organisations printed pamphlets, filed cases in various courts including High Court against police officials who worked hard. The outside

H J DORA

world was unaware of the propaganda tactics and the Naxaliteviolence was hushed up. Instead, the front organisations used to depict police actions as oppressive acts.

The movement took several turns in Andhra Pradesh. For long,Naxalites used to destroy public properties such as school buildings, MDO and MRO offices, telephone exchanges and RTC buses.

Later, radical youth organisations and farm labourers organisations resorted to atrocities in villages. People were fed up and started slowly hating Naxalites.

However, they preferred to keep mum as the armed units of the extremists supported the people up to certain extent. Naxalites used to create terror

The Martyrs of Karkagudem (Khammam dist) land mine blast (1997)

SAMBASIVA RAO

VENKAT NARAYANA

VENKATESWARLU

VICTORPAL

SRINIVASA RAO

D. RAMESH BABU

VENKATESWERKLU

VIRAIHA

by way of violence and also by organising meetings with huge gatherings. They used to kill and mutilate their targets to terrorise people.

In the process, educated youth began distancing from the movement. Also, group wars within the Naxalites started sprouting apparently weakening the movement. Feudal and bureaucratic systems were clearly visible in the movement.

However, it has to be admitted that the police department was left behind in tackling Naxalites due to which Naxalites went on strengthening their arms base. People, elected representatives and employees were left with no other option but to follow their diktats.

Businessmen also danced to their tunes. In the process,Naxalites began attacking police stations to loot weapons and kill police personnel. People began losing confidence in the police department in the face of Naxalite attacks as police could not protect themselves and the police stations.

In this backdrop, it was necessary to give better training to the police personnel who were fighting the extremists.

Along with training, modern weapons and other gears were procured from other countries and supplied to the ground level personnel. New police station buildings were constructed in place of the old ones, which were equipped to withstand Naxalite attacks.

Communication system was modernised and the intelligence system beganfunctioning effectively.

The moment police started fighting back at the armed units, people began reposing confidence in the police again.

Steps were taken to improve self-confidence among the APSP, Greyhounds and Reserve Police personnel and several incentives were given to them.

Compensation was given to those killed in encounters and promotions were given to those who arrested and killed Naxalite leaders in encounters.

It was then the Naxalite leaders and rebels started surrendering to the police. The surrendered Naxalites expressed their interest to jointhe mainstream.

A conducive atmosphere was created for the surrendered Naxalites by speaking to the government andannouncing a policy for the rehabilitation.

Scores of Naxalites were attractedto the policy and the movement was weakened.

Also, several armed dalams were wiped out and Naxalites lost scores of weapons while many othersjoined mainstream due to which the movement was badly damaged. Having no other option, the Naxalitesmoved away from Andhra Pradesh to other parts of the country where they were safer.

All this could happen only because of the supreme sacrifices made by scores of policemen and officers.

Most of those who laid down their lives were very young and had families to support. They just began their lives with dreams of having a better future, but all dreams shattered when they fell to the bullets and bomb blasts. It is heartrending to see their families, living in eternal grief and misery. Due to their supreme sacrifices, AP Police today has earned so much respect from the people. Police personnel of all ranks worked as a team and achieved results quickly.It is truly a miracle that a 40-year-old atrocious and violent movement has completely been wiped out.I pay my respects to all those police personnel who made sacrifices in the line of duty.

(The Author is former DGP of AP)

Brave Heart Buchi Reddy

“B

eta… We are here to protect the lives of the civilians. If we worry about our own life, how will we be able to save their lives? How can we discharge our duties fearlessly?”

These were the words that Buchi Reddy uttered when his son asked him about Naxal threat to his life. And when the crunch time came, Buchi Reddy was not found wanting. He took the Maoist bullets on the chest and breathed his last in the camp office.

“That was November 6, 1986. It was about 8.45 PM. The Naxals attacked my father in a stealthy way,” recalls Buchi Reddy’s son Ashok Reddy.

Buchi Reddy hailed from a family of farmers that had little education, but gave a portion of their home to house a primary school. He did his post-graduation before joining the police.

“My father was a conscientious police officer. He was always posted in sensitive areas and was never found wanting in the discharge of his duties. He was always known as a tough officer,” Ashok Reddy recalls.

“When criminals were arrested, he used to first counsel them. He used to explain to them what would befall on their families. This brought a change in the criminals. Many of them shunned the wrong path and got reformed,” says Ashok Reddy.

As Peddapalli DSP, he had fought the Naxal violence. He eliminated 11 Naxalites, five of them eliminated in one shootout. “My father’s driver used to alert us about the lurking danger of Naxal attack. But, my father always brushed those threats aside. For him, call of duty was more important than his own life,” says Ashok Reddy.

Buchi Reddy was born at Faizabad in Medak district on June 2, 1934 and died on November 6, 1986. In between, he led a life of dedication, dexterity and determination.

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

I

Need of national will to fight against terrorism

believe to optimize everything what is within my limits. The need of the people of Hyderabad in particular and AP or Telangana in general. In view of the repeated occurrence of terrorist incidents, is what can we deliver to them with whatever we have today.

That means to what extent we optimize ourself.

I would like to focus my discussion to that part of it and rest of the things like policies and structural changes that required are heard from my seniors from this dias just now.

I believe take care of pound and then penny will take care of itself. We have resources with us, we have problems with us let us try to analyze whether we have the capacity to handle this situation and whether we are prepared or not.

Our police has the capacity to face this kind of challenges. I agree with that. Then my next question to that on behalf of the public to the police that whether our preparedness is enough or not. We have the capacity but whether we are prepared or not.

Concerned citizens have been interacting with me and have been spitting their venom on the police action.

Sometimes rightly and sometimes in an exaggerated manner.

But they probably failed to structure their thoughts to two factors to why is it happening and why incidents are occurring repeatedly.

And is it occurring in spite of the best efforts of the police and the government or otherwise. That is the question. Well if you look into this I am not trying to list out the for and against the points. Nevertheless, it is important to some understand the factors that are responsible for such type of incidents and what is the remedy there of.

I would divide the factors that are responsible for any incident to be occurring and recurring to some internal factor inside the police and

11

administration and also some external factor. I will not hesitate to mention some points which may sound that I am in defense of none. Well, there is no need to defend anybody for that matter.

Only you have to defend and come to the rescue of the public and the public interest, rule of law and the spirit of the Constitution. I think we should defend that alone and nobody else.

When I make that stand clear I have no hesitation to admit that there have been inadequate performance by police has been marked in the adequate level.

Adequate level is very dynamic concept.

It goes on changing but in the present context let me say without any hesitation that level of police effectiveness , level of impact of policing needs to be increased to a great extent.

Are the police resources enough to meet the challenges. I am not mentioning this point in defense of police but then reality must be accepted and corrective measures have to be found in that context. I would say that the requirement of policing has not been adequately met in terms of resources, logistics, policy support and the finances. it has not been. Therefore when we come to the corrective measures these need to be addressed.

We want to play safe on two points often - accountability at the higher level and the police leadership. These are very delicate issues. And when we try to define police leadership at various levels everybody tries to justify that leadership has been very inspiring.

If leadership has been inspiring then why performance is not equally inspiring. That is one thing as a police officer I keep on introspecting myself.

I think the leadership needs to rise above many petty things and become inspiring for the force so that policemen at every point of time can optimize themselves. When I come to the point of accountability there is hardly any

AK MOHANTY accountability fixed even for very extraordinary happenings in the society on the senior police officers. I do not want to make it personal for anybody and I am telling in general. If I am there and I have failed, I need to be punished and told ‘look you haven’t done this and therefore you don’t deserve this place’. Accountability has to be fixed very dispassionately and in an effective manner.

Having told about accountability and the leadership, there is another important inadequacy. As a police officer I witnessed several types of crises of this nature and different nature. I am sorry to say that a specialized agency is not required and one particular agency can look after that job adequately.

Will there be some ground in saying that a particular existing unit of the police can be strengthened to meet the emerging challenges. But if you look at it very closely and assess the performance of each unit, I strongly feel that there is a need for dedicated and a specialized expert unit under one roof which can handle this kind of situation with a single minded devotion.

When I say that I refer to one organization that was created called Octopus - Organization for Counter Terrorist Operation in Andhra Pradesh police. I strongly believe and have reasons to justify that the extraordinary situation has to be met with the extraordinarily capable agency. And it should have a single minded devotion for that.

It should have the operational unit, it should have intelligence unit, it should have investigation unit, it should have training, logistics unit, it should have a data analysis and interpretation unit.

When I say that I don't mean to say that these activities are absent in the existing police organization. They are there, but when I am saying that you need to create and activate organization like this, I only want to emphasize though it is there, it has not lived up to its expectation.

There is shortage of time to explain this concept and network all these activities to prove that are equally effective. But it should be sufficient to mention to this audience that this is a necessity and I agree with it that this should be created and since the institution is existing to meet this challenge in Hyderabad, it needs to be activated and made full fledged forthwith.

When I come to external factors, I would like to say, which is very common and we try to dodge, that is the politicization of police and political patronage of police officer and political intimidation to the police officer. I am going into the ground level discussion what is true because then only we can correct ourselves and then only we can deliver a better service.

If you are not patronized your are intimidated. I think I don’t have to repeatedly say that. It is existing and all of you know about it. So these external factors need to be neutralized.

The administrative and financial resistance to police proposal is age old in government. No sooner I say that I need 30 patrolling vehicles, immediately objection from the finance is t that how were you managing all these years. For instance, if I want to construct a over head tank for drinking water, a strange logic comes from the finance that how were you managing without drinking water for all these years.

You can always object to any proposal because in the back of mind of administration a feeling has crept in that the more you give to the police, it will become more powerful and the administration will become less powerful. Therefore, I have to go round and round of decision makers to beg for four policemen here, one vehicle there, one light there, one sentry post there.

This is what is going on and this is also severely affecting the police efficiency.

Another important external factor which is very important here. I will not

HEROES WHO SAVED PARLIAMENT

SURAJ V BHARADWAJ

I

t was the most dastardly attack. The highest seat of Indian authority, symbol of its sovereignty and the temple of the democracy was under attack on 13 December 2001. It was a day when darkness of terror descended on Indian Parliament. But, it was also the time when security personnel on duty lit up the lamps of courage by burning their lives.

Five terrorists tried to bulldoze their way into Parliament. They rammed the car of Vice-President Krishnakanth, got out and began firing indiscriminately. CRPF jawan Kamlesh Kumari, who was posted at Iron Gate No 1, just next to Building Gate No 11, the main entrance for VVIPs coming to Parliament, was the first to notice them. At around 11.40 AM, she heard gunshots and grenade blasts. Kamlesh wasn't armed to fight anyone, least of all terrorists on a suicide mission.

Despite this, she did not waver from her duty. She ran towards the main gate and shut it. The terrorists shot her killing on the spot. Eleven bullets struck her in the belly killing her instantaneously. She died but her alertness ensured that the terrorists’ design stood completely foiled.

The security personnel on duty shot dead the terrorists in a gun fight

that lasted more than an hour. But, this success was not without its price.

Five policemen, a Parliament security guard, and a gardener were killed, and 18 others were injured. But, not one of our MPs and leaders were allowed to be attacked. Today, while Afzal Guru is a pseudo-secular icon and peons are sung to him, martyrs like Kamlesh Kumari and others are consigned to be mere footnotes in the long history of terrorism in India.

(The Author is Senior Journalist)

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

say political will, but I will just take it little beyond. I will say there is no national will to put down terrorism. We need to arise a national will for this. We have been talking in terms of public cooperation. That is fine. But we need to create a national will to fight terrorism.

It is not the problem of any particular a city alone. No doubt state owes a great responsibility to stop this kind of activity in urban centers. We can certainly do it if we commit ourselves and to the cause. But why are we not doing this?

Having said this I also suggest measures that are supposed to be translated in the ground level right today so that people feel safe and secure and have confidence in police. We have been saying to people that you come forward and help us. It is not enough. I must first deliver. People must get convinced that I have optimised myself and cannot deliver any further. Then only they will come forward and it is right at that level to come forward and help the police.

Let us strengthen all of us, strengthen basic and fundamental policing in every location. Make it difficult for the criminal to operate to ensure prevention. How will you do that? Very simple.

Make the patrolling and beat service effective.

Make the police visible. If police is visible, any criminal will find it difficult to operate at his will.

Frequently conduct surprise checks, frisking, antisabotage checks using dog squads on a regular basis, not as a symbol or token after the incident.

So, strengthen basic and fundamental policing for which we don't have to wait for anything. Other support mechanisms are necessary.

I have already talked about the politicization and political intimidation and I don't want to dwell upon that. But I would certainly try to say that accountability is another important thing works in the minds of many people.

What do you mean by accountability? One incident had occurred and ‘X’ should be suspended is not accountability. It has to be viewed in the context whether the responsibility and the resources that are available with a particular officer have been optimized or otherwise. If not then he is accountable. If you start fixing up accountability at the leadership level keeping in view the various levels of leadership, I am sure the force will get activated and do their best.

And when I said that don't dilute my demand for strengthening the police force in this country.

Challenges are many and I need to be strengthened, need to be enabled to do better policing. And every one of us should stand by their proposal. So, give the resources and give strength and thereafter ask the questions.

(Shri A K Mohanty is Former-DGP of AP, This is jist of Shri Mohanty’s address at a seminar organised by APUWJ at Hyderabad on 21st March, 2013)

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COURAGE, THY NAME IS KRISHNA PRASAD

He knew his service pistol was nothing in front of the sophisticated fire arms of cold-blooded terrorists. Yet, he fought with valour, till he fell to the bullets sprayed from AK 56

I

KASHYAP ADDANKI

t was November morning in 1992 and colder days were just setting in. Additional Superintendent of Police Krishna Prasad was about to have breakfast when he received a phone call.

Despite being a diabetic, he decided to forego breakfast and left for office telling his wife that he has to go. Around 2 pm she called him up to enquire whether he had his grub. She also asked him whether he took medicines. Krishna Prasad replied in the affirmative and said he had an important assignment. He also told her that he might come home late.

The important assignment was to nab Kashmiri terrorists who were taking shelter in a hideout in Brindavan Colony in Tolichowki.

The hideout was identified on the basis of the inputs given by two suspected terrorists nabbed a day before. He took his team to the hideout. While few men were with the nabbed terrorists who pointed at the hideout, he and his gunman Venkateswar Rao, knocked at the door.

The terrorists, who became alert, sent their female associates to open the door. The female associates tried to prevent Krishna Prasad and his gunman from entering the house, to enable the terrorists load their automatic rifle.

The terrorists opened fire and head constable Venkateswar Rao was the first to receive the bullet wounds. He slumped down.

Krishna Prasad returned the fire. The women associates rushed out of the house raising false alarm. The courageous soldier that he was, Krishnaprasad stepped in only to be greeted by an unfriendly and indiscriminate firing. . He went down fighting. They were rushed to Osmania Hospital only to be declared brought dead.

However, his sacrifice did not go in vain. The female associates of the terrorists, who also came to Osmania Hospital for treatment, were nabbed and the entire module was busted. During subsequent years, the terrorists who killed Krishna Prasad and his gunman were killed in exchange of fire with security personnel in Kashmir.

(The Author is Senior Journalist)

T

Police sacrifices: Unhonoured

his was the first ever instance of an Indian policeman dying for the country. It was then decided at a high-level meeting of the police officials on January 9, 1960, to observe the day of this historic sacrifice as the Police Martyrs Commemoration Day. Since then, October 21became an occasion to remember and recall the M. MAHENDER REDDY sacrifices of the police martyrs and to stand by the bereaved families. It is a solemn occasion to pay rich homage to the departed souls.

The job of a policeman is not a bed of roses, but a path full of thorns. It calls for great commitment and is a 24-hour job that calls for extreme endurance and supreme dedication. One cannot imagine a society sans policeman.

When in trouble, the first one that comes to mind is a police man. From the rich to the poor, everyone finds succour in police in times of trouble.

If the brave jawans defend the country from external enemies, the police protect the country from internal sabotage and provide safety and security to men and materials alike. The job of the police is to put the criminals and anti-social elements under the leash. In the call of this duty, they are utterly unmindful of their own safety and security. For the police, serving the people is serving God. The society expects those in the realm of social service to be honest, dedicated, humane and brimming with the spirit of sacrifice. It’s not just what you did that matters. It’s how you did that really matters. The society expects the police personnel to posses these very same qualities.

Spirit of sacrifice: When the whole world is engrossed in deep slumber, the police burn their midnight’s oil and stay awake for the safety and security of the people at large. They toil regardless of sun, rain and chill day in and day out. Not for them the pleasures of spending time with the dear ones and enjoying festive occasion. It is our duty to empathise with the police, who risk their lives for the society. They are ever ready to make the supreme sacrifice for us. Yet, their sacrifices and services are sadly under-recognised and are largely unhonoured. It is out duty to recall those sacrifices and pay respects to these martyrs. It is time that we put behind few aberrations here and there on the part of the men in Khaki and realize and respect their sacrifices on this police martyrs commemoration day. That is the least that we can do to make the police feel happy.

(The author is Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad)

HYDERABAD’S HALL OF FAME

The list of police martyrs is countless and the gallantry endless…Every time there’s a challenge, a new story of bravery is etched and at every road turn, there’s a milestone of a martyr’s sacrifice. The State capital of Hyderabad too has its share of martyrs.

ACP Sattaiah, on duty in the narrow bylanes of the riot-torn Old City of Hyderabad, fell to Quadeer’s bullet. The blood that flowed out from supreme sacrifice added to the ochre of the skies at the dawn. That was December 12, 1990.

A year later, brave ACP Krishnaprasad died battling dreaded terrorists. He breathed his last, but not before busting a whole terror module.

On 12, 2005, a powerful bomb explosion ripped through the office of the commissioner of the task force in Somajiguda, barely a 100 metres from the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s official residence. Home Guard Satyanarayana, on duty at that fateful moment, died on the spot.

On May18, 2009 home guard Balaswamy was on duty at Nagulabanda in the Old City. They were regulating the traffic and keeping peace. Suddenly, fanatic Viquaruddin and his accomplice came on a two-wheeler and fired indiscriminately.

While constable Rajendraprasad suffered grievous injuries, Balaswami succumbed. Wily Viquar founded extremist organization Tehrik e Galba Islam and was fomenting communal tensions in the city.

On May14, 2010, Viquar struck again, this time in Khilwat area of Old City. There was heavy police deployment in the Old City on the anniversary of Mecca Masjid Blasts.

Constable Ramesh, a native of Madanapalle, was deployed at Khilwat. A masked Viquar came on a bike and fired at the police picket. While two of the constables had a providential escape, Ramesh wasn’t lucky enough.

These are no mere names and the dates are no mere footnotes of history. They tell the story of the continuous saga of supreme sacrifice. Their memories should be perpetuated and their exploits should be told and retold for the posterity. The police martyrs commemoration day is a solemn occasion to recall their sacrifices and pay our humble homage.

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1

The story of Ramavaram Martyrs

990s was the time when the police had to tread with extreme caution.

No one knew when a possible mine hidden beneath the soil exploded. None was aware how bullet whiz past them or pierce through their flesh and bones.

Every road bend was a potential ambush waiting to happen. Yet, the policemen moved ahead, penetrated the unpenetrated hideouts and smoked out the public enemies. They gave their lives, but never lost sight of their objectives.

December 18, 1991….

In the non-descript Ramavaram in Karimnagar’s Husnabad mandal, the Naxals set an RTC bus ablaze. It was not an act of vendetta. It was a trap set with cunning calculation and coldblooded precision. Their target was to draw SI John Wilson into the trap and eliminate him.

December 19…

Wilson knew it was a trap set specifically for him. Yet, he did not swerve. He wanted to take the enemy head on. He motivated his subordinates and set out for Ramavaram. He chose not to travel in a jeep in view of the obvious risk involved and boarded a bus

F

Karimnagar district in those days.

He was to come back by 6 PM. It was already 7 PM. I was getting worried.

Anxious, I sat in the verandah. At about 7.30 PM, I saw the police personnel coming. There were quite a few.. … But he (SI Venkatswamy) was not among them. I found SP Surendrababu too coming towards me. I saw pity in the eyes of the cops. “There was a landmine blast and our policemen suffered injuries. We have admitted them to the hospital. Do not worry. Everything is

going to be alright. We are doing everything possible,” the officer tried to look confident and non-challant. But, grief was writ large on his face.

I slumped down and couldn’t control myself. I began crying inconsolably. By 9 PM, the news of his passing away came. My life lay shattered….

Everything was dark….

Venkatswamy was affable. Everyone liked him. He was very popular in the police department. He married off his two sisters and always talked of educating the children. But, the Naxals and the landmine they detonated knew no mercy. Naxals have turned my world upside down and gave me tears that haven’t dried up ever since.

(Palli Kusumakumari, wife of late Venkatswamy, SI)

Yadaiah

John Wilson

Everything was blown to smithereens and every piece of flesh was burnt to ashes. It was all over in a few seconds and all the 12 persons aboard perished.

It was a landmine triggered by the Naxals with CI Yadagiri, six CRPF jawans, a civil constable, a driver, conductor and a gram sevak. Soon… the bus was snaking through the treacherous route to Ramavaram.

Those two men…

…And they brought him in a bag..!

or 20 years, I have been feeling this pain….heart-wrenching, poignant and afflictive…. I still remember and relive those fateful moments, when he left never to return…..

Sun was rising on the horizon…. It was as if there was a merciless slaughter in the sky.. My daughter was down with fever and I was attending to her, mopping her with a wet cloth… It was then that I saw him hurriedly getting ready. “SP sir (Surendra Babu) called me. I need to guide the election staff the route to the polling booth,” he scampered out hurriedly. He had nothing… not even a cup of tea…

We were in Mahadevpur of

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As the bus was labouring its way, they saw two suspicious persons keeping

a close watch on their movement. They became alert and stopped the bus. They took both the characters into custody and began interrogating them in the bus. The bus began to move. At about 12 noon, they came close to Ramavaram. It was then that there was a deafening explosion. Everything was blown to smithereens and every piece of flesh was burnt to ashes. It was all over in a few seconds and all the 12 persons aboard perished. It was a landmine triggered by the Maoists. It later turned out that the two suspects were Maoists deployed to keep a tab on their movements.

This was one of the biggest ambushes in the anti-Maoist counterinsurgency in Andhra Pradesh. Knowing fully well the possible consequences, they showed indomitable courage to taken on the enemy.

It was a huge setback for the police.

But, the police recovered quickly and smoked the Maoists out through precise actions and well-directed operations.

Today, the sacrifices of those policemen have ensured that Ramavaram became a land of peace. The villages are now free of Naxals and there is tranquility and peace in the region.

-G. Adit, Journalist, Karimnagar

Heroes don’t live for Eulogies!

The only light of hope in the entire gloom was a band of few committed officers and men, who were willing to carry guns on one shoulder and coffin on the other. They always hid their pain with a veil of smile and salute. Are they not scared of death? May be not. They didn’t appear like that. Only loyalty mattered for them. Where do we find such priceless loyalty?

October is the holy month for all cops.

So I can afford to speak from my heart.

I am not the one who had obsession to wear uniform in my early life. I joined police by chance, not by choice.

There were moments, even when I regretted my decision. Strangely, the more I wanted to shed khaki, the stronger it stuck to my crust. This September, I have touched the milestone of 18th year in my expedition!

I had absolutely no idea about peaks and valleys in this mission while I was preparing for civil services or

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during training. Only the pride of being an IPS officer, carrying a gun, being saluted by people and other little perks kept me going initially. Honestly, I didn’t have clear idea of the real purpose. Nor was I mature enough to search for meaning in life.

But, the cold-blooded massacre of 16 constables in a pre-dawn raid by the Maoist insurgents in Khammam district in 1997 made me realize how perilous is the world of policemen. It did not take much time to realize that leadership is not just an ornamental noun, but a verb loaded with massive responsibility. Was I cut out for this task? I wasn’t sure.

DR. RS. PRAVEEN KUMAR

I took a step back. This was not the life that I dreamt for, after a grueling preparation. None of the victims in the raid was my blood relative so as to seek vengeance. I could have led a comfortable life of scientist in the green houses without dying like these hapless men. Many such thoughts encircled me for quite a while. My trainer sensing my mood counseled me to not to waste this great opportunity.

Instead work on “adapting to adversity” and “stay focused”. May be his words had a deeper purpose. So I clung to khaki, unwillingly though.

It was during my tenure as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Bellampalli

MOTHER MAKES SUPREME SACRIFICE

ot just police, even police families made supreme sacrifices for the country. A case in point is Uma Maheshwari, mother of SI Dharmendra. It was the deadly night of March 11, 2005 when marauding Maoists descended in drones on Chilakaluripet police station in Guntur. Dharmendra was high on Maoist target list. When they could not find him in the police station, the marauders laid a siege to his quarters.

Dharmendra’s mother Uma Maheshwari, wife and his children were at home. As deathly terror knocked the doors, Uma Maheshwari shut the doors quickly and rushed the children and daughter in law into the bed room. The Maoists initially tried to detonate the bedroom. When they

couldn’t, they tried to break the door open. But, Uma Maheshwari held the door tightly. Thinking Dharmendra was

blocking, the Maoists fired indiscriminately at the door. One bullet pierced her chest. She fell down and lay lifeless in a pool of blood, but not before she saved the children and daughter-in-law.

Dharmendra, who managed to escape from the Maoist attack, came to know of his mother’s supreme sacrifice only the next day. But, he did not forget the call of duty even the hour of utmost grief. He first saluted his superior R Prasad, who too died in the dastardly attack. Then, he walked slowly to where his mother’s mortal remains were kept.

His hands quivering, whole body trembling and eyes raining inconsolable tears. As he saw his mother, Dharmendra broke down.

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

in Adilabad district that I was struck with blandness of the challenge, desolate terrain, and coupled with rickety atmosphere. But the incident of gruesome killing of constables, Seshaiah and Sanjeeva Reddy in the market of Bellampalli by the killer squad of insurgents barely five minutes after they left my office deeply impacted my attitude towards my men. It was not the grief of their sudden death, but the resilience of the families that left me flummoxed. It gave me the access to the impermeable world of our constabulary.

How is that these people are so spirited that even death is not able to distract them? Honestly, their resolve left me ashamed. These are not the men who are enthused by accelerated promotions or packets of cash reward we give them for ‘good work’. There is something else. That curiosity made me burrow deeper.

Every time you reach home early and your property is recovered intact or a murder case is detected, policeman runs the risk of death and divorce much earlier than all of us.

In Warangal, another epicenter of conflict, I was maddened by the vengeance and violence that pervaded the myriad lanes, black granite boulder hills, and cotton fields. The only light of hope in the entire gloom was a band of few committed officers and men, who were willing to carry guns on one shoulder and coffin on the other. They always hid their pain with a veil of smile and salute. Are they not scared of death? May be not.

They didn’t appear like that. Only loyalty mattered for them. Where do we find such priceless loyalty?

I rarely cried after I grew as an adult.

Policing further hardened my emotional identity. Even my father’s death couldn’t shake me, but death of my buddies like Sanjeev and Wesley in action suddenly demolished the iron wall I had built against such surge of emotions. What is common to all of us? May be the same tribal instinct of collective unconscious passes through all our neurons.

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MEMORY OF MEDAK MARTYRS

The blood stains still remain and so does the pain of losing the beloved ones. The people of Medak still recall the police martyrs who fell to Maoist bullets in the district. The attacks on the police stations in Papannapet and the police convoy in Shivvampet still rankle the people of the district.

From left: Habid Hussain, Prasad, Raghunandan, Narsimhulu and Ramchandar

Pillutla Martyrs:

O

n November 16, 1997, the Maoists laid a death trap for the police through the jungle routes of Pillutla. They lured the police into their trap by detonating the house of TDP leader Gopal Reddy. The police led

by Toopran DSP Balasubrahmanyam visited the village the next day. He was accompanied by CI Venkat Swamy, SB Zamadar Pentaiah, 12 constables, locals Narsimha Reddy, Mutyalu, Nagireddy, Padmaiah and Venkatesh. They decided against going in a vehicle and went on foot as a precautionary measure. But, the Maoists blasted the landmine as they reached a culvert en route. The DSP, CI, head constable Pentaiah, constables Laxman, Srinivas, Shujat Ali and local guide Narsimha Reddy died on the spot. The incident sparked an outrage and the public at large condemned the Naxals for the dastardly attack. Sixteen years after the attack, the people still recall the martyrdom. A statue of Balasubrahmanyam was installed in Toopran. On every November 17 and October 21, their sacrifice is recalled.

(Palle Anjaneyulu, Sr Journalist)

From left: Balasubrahmanyam, DSP, Venkataswami, CI, Pentaiah, HC, Constables Laxman and Sujayat Ali

Martyrdom at Papannapet

L

ike Shivvampet, the police blood was also spilled in another incident.

This martyrdom that shook the people’s conscience is that attack in Papannapet. It was the night before the Vinayak Chaviti on September 13, 1999. The clock showed it was 1.10 AM. Everyone was fast asleep. The Naxal marauders chose to attack the police at that ungodly hour. Some 70 armed Naxals attacked the police station. They felled down sentry Prasad and shot head constable Raghunandan, constables Ramchandar, Narsimlu and Abid Hussain. SI Sattaiah had a providential escape. The people erected a memorial for the slain policemen. But, these lives were not sacrificed in vain. Today, the Maoist movement is all but dead in Medak.

Relentless pursuit by the police personnel has ensured that the Maoist movement has all but disappeared from Medak. The people of Medak live peaceful and secure lives thanks to the sacrifices of police personnel.

It is recklessly sadistic to hurl abuses at the policemen.

More hurtful is hanging them to the hook for their ‘turnout’ and ‘gait’ everyday when there is deluge of fear all over. We should always ask ourselves when we take their salute, whether we deserve such selfless respect and unwavering loyalty. Salute is not a mere everyday gesture that can easily be ignored, even if one has no time. It is a live thread through which the trust shuttles at a lightening speed.

Irrefutably, this trust is the core to the police conduct in society.

Similarly it takes no time to take potshots at policemen, but if one goes to their homes and takes a peek into their hearts, he would then understand the pain. Policemen deserve gallantry for facing every odd in their personal life.

Congested accommodation in Erady type cubicles (thank goodness, they are now demolished!), children not doing well, wives turning neurotic, peer pressures, trying to be conformist in the subculture, unrealistic expectations from the families in the village, lack of social support, being on call always, staying in the ring, invasive media, crises and the endless list of woes afflict police life.

It takes no time to abuse policemen on the streets, in the tweets, and in the posts of Facebook. Let’s not forget, for every hundred people who feel secure because of a policeman, one child in the police lines is robbed of his parental affection. Be cautious next time when you recklessly brand police children as ‘spoiled lot’.

Every time you reach home early and your property is recovered intact or a murder case is detected, policeman runs the risk of death and divorce much earlier than all of us.

It is enigmatic to me, even today as to how men in uniform, jump into action despite being abused by everyone.

May be it is a tribal instinct that is innate to the policemen to react to a dangerous stimulus. May be it is the faith that their bosses would take care if something goes wrong.

Perhaps, this is the reason why we have more policemen willing to die on duty than any organized body of employees of the state in the world.

The phrase ‘unsung heroes’ sounds very weird to me.

Strangely, unlike many, policeman doesn’t crave for any recognition. I took part in many funeral processions of policemen (including those ill-fated 36 who met watery grave in Balimela, Orissa) who died at the altar of duty. In every procession, sadly I found very thin civilian presence.

Barring a few exceptions, no statues are erected for police martyrs and no streets are named after them. Even if it happens, it is only a police affair. Herman Goldstein, the famous police thinker says no free society is comfortable with the people who enforce law to safeguard its being.

Police understands this axiom better than anyone. Not surprisingly, the police families are unfazed by this utter lack of concern of society. They simply digest the grief and localize it to “the lines”. Shockingly, many ill-fated families do not even know why their sole breadwinners never returned to home again.

Heroes don’t live for eulogies.

(The author is Senior IPS Officer of AP Cadre, Presently working as Secretary, APSWREIS)

A

Zia-ul-Haq, Honest to the Hilt

DSP going to a wedding function on a bicycle, living in a house that is simple and unostentatious! That was Zia-ulHaq, the Kunda DSP. Known for honesty, simplicity and without the trappings of the power that a police exudes, Zia had endeared himself to the people. People remember him for his honesty and simplicity.

Zia came from a very Zia had endeared backward area of the state. His family was himself to everyone equally backward. Father in Devaria and in his was a factory labour and stint at Kunda too, it was his toil that which is part of UP enabled Zia to become a strongman Raja police.

As a police officer, Zia Bhaiya’s soon became extremely constituency, he won popular with the people. the hearts of the He had endeared himself to everyone in Devaria people. His simple and in his stint at Kunda ways and honest too, which is part of UP working style made strongman Raja Bhaiya’s him popular. constituency, he won the hearts of the people. His simple ways and honest working style made him popular. It is exactly because of this that he had frequent run-ins with political biggies.

On March 2, 2013, the DSP came to know that there was unrest in Belipur village. There was arson and attacks by the supporters of local sarpanch Nanhe Yadav, who was slain by his rivals. Zia rushed his forces and went to the place. However, goons, supposedly close to the minister, attacked him, badly mutilated the body and shot him in the head and chest with his service revolver.

The government came up with its template responses like “The government would come down heavily on the culprits and who so ever high and mighty found involved in the incident won’t be spared.” But, the people of Kunda stood up for their beloved DSP. They took out marches and organized protests. There were hartals. This unnerved the Government. It soon had to order an inquiry into the DSP’s murder.

Zia’s death had not gone in vain. It showed that people stand by a honest police officer and own up his battle for justice. Through his supreme sacrifice, Zia showed that Right always wins over might!

(The author is Md Ansari, Sr Journalist from Lucknow)

18

WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

Sacrifices dot the battle against Left Wing Terrorism

introduction of technology by the police department in the communication field that has caused the turnaround, helping in establishment of a peaceful Telangana State leading to the decline of the Maoist movement

O

n a cold night on the 1st of would meet with similar fate. A few March, 1989, two police months ago while under practical constables Somaraj(PC 677) and training in Vishakapatnam District I was Rahman Khan (PC 510) were performing taught that while on beat duty the beat night beat duty on Phullong Bridge in PC should always check bags, baggages Nizamabad Town. The PC’s stopped a of suspicious persons during night beat rickshaw and wanted to search a young duty as house breaking implements are heavy and housebreaking man’s bag. They asked him questions quite like his name and the contents of the implements can be easily hidden in the bag. The young man said: So you want clothing. It was clear to me that the to see what is there in this bag” and in victims Somaraj and Rehman Khan were a giffy whipped out a 9MM Pistol and suspecting the stranger to be carrying fired at them. While Police Constable such instruments and wanted him to Somaraj died on the spot and PC show what was inside the bag. Further Rehman Khan was grievously injured.

As a young Deputy Superintendent of Police of Nizamabad, Sub Division I reached the spot immediately and shifted the profusely bleeding Rehman Khan to the District Headquarters Hospital and PC Somaraj to the Hospital Mortuary.

Mercifully Rehman Khan recovered after two months of Somaraju Qutubuddin treatment, but Somajar’s family lost its sole breadwinner. After a few days Donta it was clear to me that Nizamabad town Markendeya alias Shankar, District is as vulnerable for the cops on duty as Committee Secretary, Nizamabad, the other extremist-affected areas in issued a statement claiming that it was the district.

There was a spike in Left wing he who shot Somaraj and injured Rehman Khan. He mocked at the Police extremist violence in the late ‘80s’ in Department for not carrying the North Telangana district of sophisticated firearms. He said the cops Nizamabad. As the CPI-ML Peoples war had pestered him with questions and declared Telangana to be a struggle that they ‘got what they deserved.’ He zone, instances of attacks on police warned that all the officers who were personnel showed a marked increase. In harassing the people during night duty a struggle zone, it was essential for the

19

V. NAVEENCHAND

Peoples War cadre to keep up the morale by regularly killing police persons. This would demoralize the State forces and establish the supremacy of the armed militant dalams in the countryside.

The fight against Left wing extremists has been long and hard and it is one tenacity of Telangana Police, their preparedness for the supreme sacrifice, quality of leaderships on the field, political will, establishment of specialized forces, superior training and firepower, and most importantly, rejection of the ideology of violence and hatred, well-framed surrender and rehabilitation policy, better transport systems and introduction of technology by the police department in the communication field that has caused the turnaround, helping in establishment of a peaceful Telangana State leading to the decline of the Maoist movement.

A few months earlier an armed dalam of CPI-ML Peoples war caught PC MD. Qutabuddin from Pallikonda(V) under Bheemgal PS limits, tied him to an electrical pole in the heart of the village, shot him dead in broad day light in the presence of the villagers despite their repeated requests to spare him. The Qutubuddin had gone to the village to meet a relative. The dalam labeled him as a special party Police Constable, Gunman of the then Sub Inspector, SK. Junnoo

and brutally killed him. The only mistake committed by the PC was to visit his relatives in an extremistaffected area.

The Telangana districts Police Department suffered serious causalities during the Left Wing terror movement from 1978 to 2007.

Several bravehearts gave their lives in the line of duty. We salute them for the supreme sacrifices made by them.

For the CPI-ML Peoples War, later renamed as CPI Maoist party, the reason for killing the policeman was to ensure their supremacy. It was the Policemen who challenged the Maoists in the hinterlands of Telangana. In this Low Intensity Conflict, the general public which initially supported the extremists due to the ideological pull, had turned against the mindless violence unleashed by the Maoists.

In due course, this change in attitude turned the tide in favour of the police department when information about dalam movement started flowing regularly to the police, thanks again to the selfless work of the Police Constabulary. In Medak district, a militant was brutally beaten by a Maoist dalam for not repaying debts. A Special branch Constable befriended the militant and a successful operation was conducted against the dalam that was taking shelter in the house of the village sarpanch. There are several such successful operations that made the top leadership of Maoists to leave Telangana, Once their strong-hood to seek shelter in Dandakaranya.

While the results in anti-extremist operations came later, the loss of life suffered by Telangana Police forces was considerable. The Left Wing extremists used landmines to deadly effect killing scores of Police officers and men. Bold officers were targeted and killed in full public view to serve as a deterrent to other officers. Other humble cops on routine duties were killed without compunction by the Maoists.

Over a period of time the tactics of not reaching a so called scene of crime

by Police, using villagers at times as human shields, the concept of roadopening parties, checking of culverts and bridges paid dividends and police casualties showed a declining trend.

Operationally, the policy of targeting senior Maoist leaderships has

The Noble Policeman

Dr. Smt. K. Aruna vyas

He makes his entry just when the society is in turmoil And works thus round the clock with his back - breaking toil He jumps and runs and is always on tenterhooks And works he zealously to bring to book the crooks.

Dawn breaks for him with discordant notes of disturbance Routine murders and robberies march on with nonchalance.

No one comes to him with a happy and a smiling face His day drags on wearily recording many a criminal case Sips of hot tea gulps he down and rushes fast To help the needy and desperate and to make them smile at last Come rain or winter he strenously works on forever Hours of grinding duty threaten or restrain him never Sea of vehicles and teeming crowds continue to bustle Regulates he them with his hands and his trusty whistle More brickbats than bouquets await him with a baleful stance For none acknowledges his service without so much as a grateful glance When people go amok he is put in a really terrible plight Law and order he must guard to set the situation right With the coming of V.I.P’s commanded he is to hustle And to control the unruly mob flex he must his muscle Should a terrorist or a gangster strike or make trouble Summoned he is so to the scene to dissolve it at the double Sometimes the terrorist does succeed and make a triumphant gain Making the expertise and valour of the policeman go in vain The terrorist’s bullet stops the policeman’s selfless life Devastating thus his children as well as his widowed wife The bullet may have ripped his heart but certainly not his courage The pride of his sacrifice will sure shine on his visage The nation duly acknowledges the policeman’s matchless dedication And thus bows before him on the day of commemoration

hit the Left Wing Extremists the hardest giving a respite to the Telangana Police for planning new and more effective polices. By means of better interstate co-operation, more advanced technology, intelligence-based operations the so called dreaded Action Teams could be neutralized.

The concept of Action Team was devised by the Maoist leadership as a sure-shot reprisal mechanism against

high-ranking political leadership and senior police officers. Their movements were studied in detail, committed Maoists from various fields unknown to one another were trained for months before striking a target. It is important to work on the weaknesses in the system to save the lives of the protectees.

(The author is Senior IPS Officer, Inspector General of Police, Telangana)

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

IPS MARTYRS

SUPREME SACRIFICE

Brave in the face of death, Unflinching in the cause of the country, the IPS warriors wrote their saga of courage and sacrifice with blood surging from their battle wounds. The Hall of Fame is adorned by the heroic exploits of these intrepid warriors.

Here is a tribute from senior police officer Mahesh Bhagwat to the IPS officers who went down fighting on the call of duty.

O valiant hearts who to your glory came Through dust of conflict and through battle flame; Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved, Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

I

t was Thomas Jefferson who said that the tree of liberty must be watered by the blood of patriots.

And the police have never lagged

21

behind in making supreme sacrifices. A sniper waiting in dark, an ambush at the hairpin bend, a landmine waiting to explode or a grenade about to be hurled at‌. The police have dared them all and braved it all. The martyrs etched stories of valour, courage and sacrifice with the blood surging from their gaping wounds.

From 1989 to 2007, an estimated 18914 policemen died on call of duty, averaging close to 1000 per year. This year 576 policemen martyred through

MAHESH BHAGAVAT

of the nation. Every year, police personnel die fighting anti-socials, mafias, Naxals, terrorists and smugglers. Like in all other uniformed forces, even in the police department, several officers have made supreme sacrifices. The list of gallantry and bravery is long.

It begins with GS Arya, the 1950 cadre IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh, LB Sewa, a 1958 Assam-Meghalaya cadre officer, and K Panchapagesan, a 1974 batch officer. While Arya was IG of

Mizoram, Sewa was DIG and Panchapagesan was SP. They were known for their derring-do. Together, they launched several successful offensives against the Mizo rebels and their names spelt terror for the insurgents. On January 13, 1975, a day before the Sankranthi, terrorists in police uniform sneaked into the police conference room, where the three officers were holding a meeting. They shot the three officers from close range and felled them.

During the heights of the Khalistani terror, the Punjab police displayed exemplary valour. Many a police officer was felled by the terrorists. Avtar Singh Atwal, the Jalandar IGP. He was killed on April 25, 1983 while returning after praying at the Golden temple. He was unarmed when the terrorists attacked him.

1982 batch IPS KRS Gill and 1979 batch officer AS Brar were killed by the Khalistani terrorists. These were highly motivated officers known for their courage and fearlessness. They were posted as SSP and Additional SP of Patiala respectively. On the fateful day of December 14, 1987, they were attacked while they were jogging.

They were badly outnumbered and went down fighting.

Gobindram, who worked as an SP and successfully fought the Khalistanis, made the supreme sacrifice when a terrorist’s bomb rocked his office. He was commandant of the 75th battalion of the Punjab Armed Police in Jalandhar.

Patiala SSP Sheetaldas was killed in a shootout with his ASI. The ASI was found to have links with the Khalistani terrorists. When he tried to arrest the ASI, the latter fired at him. In the shootout, Das suffered bleeding injuries and died, but not before killing the traitor.

Daulat Singh Negi, a dynamic officer known for his hugely successful operations against ULFA terrorists in Assam, is the next IPS to make the supreme sacrifice. He was SP of Dibrugarh. AT that time Dibrugarh was terrorist infested. But, Negi was made of a sterner stuff. He was ambushed while returning from a raid. He went down fighting.

IPS officer AK Arora was adjudged best IPS probationer

A

MARTYRS IPS OFFICERS

NAME OF THE OFFICERS

BATCH

CADRE

DATE OF DEATH

L.B. SEWA

1958

AM

13-01-1975

G.S. ARYA

K. PANCHPAGESAN A.S. ATWAL

V.K. MEHTA

A.K. ARORA K.R.S. GILL A.S. BRAR

SITAL DASS

VANDANA MALIK

DAULAT SINGH NEGI R.P. VERMA

1950 1974 1964

UP

UT

PUNJAB

1972

WEST BENGAL

1982

PUNJAB

1984 1979 1976 1987 1976 1974

RAJASTHAN PUNJAB PUNJAB MT

AM

BIHAR

AJIT SINGH

EC-1968

PUNJAB

K.S. VYAS

1974

AP

GOBIND RAM G.P. NAIDU

VED PRAKASH

RAMAN PRAKASH

R.N. HOPINGSON

RAVI KANT SINGH

1975 1987

PUNJAB AP

1989

NAGALAND

1992

MT

1990

GUJARAT

1987

AM

1995

BIHAR

K.C. SURENDRA BABU

1997

BIHAR

ASHOK M KAMTE

1989

MAH

1998

MP

C. UMESH CHANDRA AJAY KUMAR SING Md Amin Bhat

T. THANGTHUAM

HEMANT KARKARE

Binod Kumar Coubey NARENDRA KUMAR Amarjit Balihar

1991

1979 1982 2009 2003

AP

J&K MT

MAH MP

Zarkhand

26/11 HERO: HEMANTH KARKARE

1982 batch IPS officer, Hemanth Karkare was an engineering graduate from Vishveshvarayya Regional Engineering College in Nagpur. He chucked attractive jobs at National Productivity Council and Hindustan Lever for the rough and tumble of an IPS officer. Even during his initial days as an IPS officer, he showed rare spark and did not shirk away from arresting political leaders during 1993.

Karkare took over the investigation of the multi-crore shoe scandal and was also in charge of the narcotics division in Mumbai. He had also worked in Austria for seven years. He became the head of ATS in January 2008.

13-01-1975 13-01-1975 25-04-1983 18-03-1984 07-07-1986 14-12-1987 14-12-1987 19-08-1988 08-04-1989 19-07-1990 03-01-1991 08-05-1991 10-01-1991 27-01-1993 14-11-1993 26-08-1994 02-05-1995 02-06-1995 16-05-1996 04-09-1999 05-10-2000 02-02-2004 05-01-2005 31-12-2005 26-11-2008 26-11-2008 12-07-2009 08-03-2012 02-07-2013

Karkare solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel. He also handled the July 2006 Mumbai local train blasts case. An art lover, he created over 150 wooden sculptures in Chandrapur during his stint there.

On the fateful day of November 26 when terrorists attacked Mumbai, he was about to sit for dinner when he got the news. A quintessential policeman that he was, he immediately rushed to the spot. With his comdrades Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, he was in the thick of action moments later only to meet a heroic end. He shall forever remain an icon for Indian policemen and women.

22

WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

during this training. During his stint in Jodhpur, he died due to a bomb explosion. He suffered grievous injuries on June 28, 1986 and was rushed to a hospital, where he was under treatment for almost a month. He died on July 7, 1986.

Ravikanth Singh was a bold officer who has successfully foiled many anti-national activities of the insurgents in Assam and had proved to be a thorn in their flesh. Singh was posted as S.P., Tinsukia. He was attacked by the insurgents while on the way to his office on May 16, 1996. He died fighting bravely.

Vedprakash, who was SP, Mokokchung of Nagaland was the prime target of NSCN ultras. He was attacked on August 26, 1994 while returning from his office. His two bodyguards and the driver also died in the mishap.

RN Hopingson was a dynamic officer known for his courageous operations against the extremists in the trouble-torn state of Manipur. He was killed in a dastardly fashion by the extremists in a surprise ambush o June 2, 1995.

Raman Prakash was a very courageous officer who never failed to take initiative in any task placed before him. He was posted as Addl.S.P., Panchmahal District, Godhra, when we was killed in an accidental bullet firing while conducting an operation meant to trap a man-eater panther that had been terrorizing the villagers. He was martyred on May 2, 1995.

DCP VK Mehta was a stickler for discipline. While being posted as DCP, Port Division, he responded to a clash between two communities at garden reach PS area of his division where a few incidents of bomb throwing and arson had been reported. To restore order, he himself was at the forefront in chasing the mob of miscreants. In the case, he and his security aid got separated from the others and later they were found dead on March 18, 1984.

Lohardaga SP Ajay Kumar Singh, a 1995 batch officer and Superintendent of Police Lohardaga district of undivided Bihar, laid down his life at the altar of duty in the ambush laid by Maoist Communist Centre ultras near Peshrar village in Lohardaga district on October 4, 2000.

He was on a visit to Peshrar village where incident of firing by Naxalite was reported earlier. Acting on a tipoff, when he along with four Jawans of Bihar Military police were approaching the scene in the Gypsy vehicle, a mine was blasted followed by ambush firing by the outlawed, eventually leading to martyrdom of Ajay. He is the first IPS officer who was slain in uniform while bravely confronting the ultras in Bihar state. He was known as a brave, courageous, upright and dutiful police officer. A product of Netrahat School and IIT Kharagpur, Ajay was a hardcore professional, extraordinarily devoted to his work and duty. At the same time he was a family man, very supporting and dutiful husband who got married to Anupam Saxena (IPS batch mate). His act of bravery is recognized by country by awarding him with President’s Police Medal for Gallantry posthumously On 03-01-1991, as Superintendent of Police, Dhanbad, Randhir Prasad Verma got information about a bank dacoity being committed in the Bank of India branch of

23

HIS NAME SHIVERS MAO’S...

THE ROLE MODEL K.S. VYAS

H

is name sent shivers down the spines of Naxalites for it was K S Vyas, who founded the elite Greyhounds, foreseeing the internal security threat the extremists could pose to the society. Though he was on the top of the militants’ hit list, Vyas never confined himself to the protected corridors. A fearless officer he was, Vyas used to go for jogging along with his wife Aruna Vyas in LB Stadium every evening.

The Naxalites, who considered him their bitter enemy, studied his routine and planned their assault. The ill-fated day was January 27, 1993. Dressed in a track suit, Vyas was jogging along with his wife while the security personnel were waiting at their designated place.

It was around 6.30 pm when about six persons came close to Vyas, surrounded him and opened fire from very close range. The extremists hurled a bomb while fleeing and used the commotion as a cover for safe escape.

Vyas was rushed to Osmania General Hospital where he was declared dead. Credited with setting up of the elite Greyhounds and Special Investigation Branch (SIB) that provided intelligence support for the operations wing, Vyas became a synonym for the ‘Andhra Model’ of flushing out the Naxalites. Today, Andhra Model is so popular not only in India but also across the world that police personnel from neighbouring states and countries undergo training in combating terrorism. Police academies have been organizing Vyas Memorial Lecture as a mark of respect to the foresighted and courageous officer.

Dhanbad city. He immediately rushed to the spot and launched an operation against the dacoits. In the firing that ensued, he was fatally wounded and died on the spot. As a Police officer he eliminated many criminal gangs. He was posthumously awarded the gallantry award Ashok Chakra. The Government of India also issued a Commemorative postage stamp in his honor in 2004.

Vandana Malik: She is the first and the only woman IPS to attain martyrdom. A much admired officer even during his probation days, she was ASP (under training) at Lamshang Police Station, Manipur.

IPS officer Miss Vandana Malik was killed along with one constable Mangi in an ambush by the members of People Liberation Army (PLA) at Konthoujam Lamkhai on April 8,1989. On the fateful day, officerincharge (OC) of Lamsang Police Station Miss Vandana Malik and her team were heading to an examination centre of the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) on security duty. Around 3 pm,

“D

the suspected militants launched the ambush killing Miss Vandana Malik on the spot and injured four police constables critically. One sten-gun, one .38 revolver, two rifles and some ammunitions were taken away by the suspected militants after the incident.

Ajit Singh: He was extremely brave and dedicated officer renowned for his bold action against the terrorists. On May 8, 1991, he received information about an encounter in a village in Tarn Taran District. In the ensuing crossfire between the terrorists and the police he was badly injured but continued fighting. He later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. He was DIG, Border Range, Amritsar at the time of his martyrdom.

Mohammed Amin Bhat: On February 2, 2004, terrirorists, who claimed to belong to Save Kashmir Movement, fired upon Bhat, who was DIG, Crime and Railways at Barzulla. He was coming out of a mosque after Eid prayers. He was critically wounded and

breathed his last at the hospital. Bhat was a conscientious officer and was instrumental in reviving the intelligence unit during early 1990s. He was the first among the senior police officers to be killed in J and K. He was an experienced officer who had served the UN peace-keeping mission in Kosovo.

Brave IPS officers from Maharashtra – Hemant Karkare and Ashok Kamte.

Ashok Kamte was An accomplished athlete, he represented India at the junior power-lifting championship in Peru in 1978. He was posthumously honoured with the Ashok Chakra died fighting the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008. These officers chased and attacked terrorists before falling to the enemy bullets.

T.Thangthuam: This 1979 batch IPS officer was IGP Manipur. His convoy was ambushed at Oinam Bazar in Senapati district. Critically injured Thangthuam was admitted to a hospital, where he died on December 31, 2005.

KC Surendrababu was the SP of

Shivaprasad, T Kishore Kumar, head constable MV Ranga Reddy, police constables Sheikh Haider, YVS Prasad, MD Jahab Iqbal, Jayaramulu and S Subhash were martyred in the fight.

Bus driver Saleh Miyan too died in the dastardly attack.

Despite knowing the treacherous terrain and the foxy Maoist strategies, Paradesi Naidu decided to go to the scene of offence himself.

The village was strategically located and offered locational advantage to the Maoists.

He hired a private bus and went to the village. It was his motivation and guidance that made the police fight back the Naxals for over two hours.

Paradesi Naidu was the second son of justice G Ramanujulu Naidu. A gold medalist in MA (economics) and a cricketer of repute, Naidu never shirked from responsibilities and always led from the front. Even while staring at a certain death he conducted himself like a true blue man in Khaki.

His smiling face and friendly demeanor endeared everyone. His memories continue to linger long after he is physically gone.

PARADESINAIDU: A BRAVE COP

o not worry about me! See that our arms are safe. Fight them to the last man standing…. Do not let the enemy escape!”

How brave and how courageous must be the man who ordered his men even as both his legs lay severed in a landmine blast and was bleeding profusely? That was Paradesi Naidu, the first IPS officer in Andhra Pradesh to make the supreme sacrifice while fighting anti-national forces.

It was November 14, 1993. Naidu, then Mahaboobnagar SP, was coming back from Somasila after inspecting the RTC bus and the forest guesthouse that the Maoists had blasted. Somasila is a river coast village in the thick Nallamala forest.

As his convoy was returning, the Maoists detonated a landmine critically wounding Naidu, and several others. Despite grievous injuries and severe blood loss, Naidu motivated his men to fight back. He fought till the end and later breathed his last. Besides Naidu, SI’s A

24

WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

Munger in Bihar. He supervised antiNaxal operations under Jamui police station and Kajra Railway station on January 4, 2005. While returning, the Naxals set off a landmine near Gangta killing Surendrababu, his bodyguard, driver and four other policemen on the spot.

Binodkumar Chowbey is the first SP rank officer from Chhattisgarh who became a martyr in the fight against the Naxals. He played a key role in smashing the urban network of the Maoists in Raipur and Bhilai.

He was SP of Rajanandgaon and worked tirelessly to fight the Maoists.

On July 12, 2009, the Naxals ambushed his team near Madanwada and exploded landmines. Later, they opened fire. The police, under Chowbey’s leadership returned the fire. But, 26 policemen, including Chowbey died fighting. He was awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously.

Young Narendra Kumar had launched a determined campaign against illegal mining in Morena region of Madhya Pradesh. As an ASP of the district, he led several operations against illegal miners. On March 8, 2012, he was runover by a tractor while personally conducting an operation against criminals involved in illegal mining of sand stone.

Pakur district Superintendent of police Amarjit Balihar and his four men died in a Maoist attack on July 2, 2013 in Damini forest of Zarkhand’s Dumka District. Their convoy was attacked while returning from a security review meeting in Dumka, a divisional headquarter. A gun battle ensued between the police force and Naxals following the ambush, in which Balihar went down fighting.

Gallantry, courage, motivation, derring-do, fighting spirit …. The police forces of India have plenty of them.

They have shown their mettle in more than one battle. They looked straight into death and laughed fearlessly. They died for our new dawn. Our heartfelt tributes to these great leaders, who led by example and put them in the line of fire first before their subordinates. It’s time to honour the fallen. Salutes to the brave police officers!

(The author is Inspector General of Police, Intelligence Security)

25

UMESH CHANDRA:

F

LIVES FOR EVER

or the people, he was like God. For fellow policemen, he was a source of inspiration, a picture-perfect of honesty and integrity. For his subordinates, he was never a boss but a leader most adored. For Naxals and anti-socials, he was terror incarnate. And all of this in a brief span of mere 33 years.

That was Chadalawada Umesh Chandra for you. For his countless admirers and subordinates, he was simply ‘Umesh Sir.’ As one crosses, Sanjiva Reddy Nagar Crossroads, one finds Umesh Chandra in bronze standing upright, as if putting his best foot forward to go on call of duty.

That was the very spot where this extraordinary cop fell to the Naxal bullets.

He was a policeman who raised the standards of police administration and was an exemplary officer known for his high degree of honesty, integrity and professionalism. Umesh Chandra was an exemplary cop who lived and died for the society. He was the embodiment of courage and quintessence of sincerity. A great leader, able manager, a pristine humanitarian and a person who believed work was worship, that is Umesh Chandra for you. In Kadapa, he tamed the wily factionists and in Karimnagar, he crushed the treacherous Naxals. Wherever he went, the people and police alike adored him.

During his sting in Warangal, he founded the Police Jagrruthi Brundam to take on the Maoists misinformation through cultural events and folk art forms. Providing amenities to the policemen’s families was very close to his heart and he always strove to ensure that his men were happy. The loyalty he commanded from his men was exemplary. His Kadapa days would also be remembered for the flood relief works that his men undertook under his able guidance.

Umesh Chandra struck terror in the hearts of the anti-national forces.

Naxals found the going tough when Umesh Chandra was at the helm. He believed in taking the Naxals head on and used to the in the forefront of the campaigns.

It was September 5, 1999. That morning was like any other mornings and as ever, sprightly Umesh Chandra left for his office at about 10 AM. He was in his Maruti Van and his driver Satyanarayana and gunman Ramachandra Reddy accompanied him. Even as the van stopped at the red signal at Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar Crossroads, red terror did a deathly dance in broad day light. Brave Umesh, who was injured in the shootout, tried to come out of the vehicle and fight the killer Naxals. But it was already too late. His gunman Ramachandra Reddy and driver Satyanarayana followed their master in his final journey.

Born in 1966 in Pedapudi village of Guntur district, Umesh Chandra did his post-graduation in Osmania University . He joined the IPS in 1990. His encounters with the Naxals in Warangal and Karimnagar and his stint at Kadapa, showed his mettle. He was also instrumental in setting up of the police computer centre as the Assistant Inspector General. Married in 1994, he was blessed with a son.

Close encounter with death!

N

ormally, evenings in a police station are relatively more relaxed. The cops let down their hair and stretch a bit. But, that evening was different. It was 13 years ago, but seems just yesterday for me!

The relative calm in Tirumalagiri police station was shattered when Naxals descended on it all guns blazing. A hail of bullets, intermittent grenade blasts and a barrage of invectives pierced what was to be a quiet evening. Located on Warangal-Nalgonda border, the station was on Naxal radar for quite sometime.

The Naxals had their plan ready.

Darkness slowly descended as sun, on guard all through the day, was readying up to retire beyond the hills on the western horizon. The Naxals moved in surreptitiously. Their first target was the electric transformer. Moments later, the village was wrapped in pitch darkness.

Before the cops on duty at the police station could realize, death befell on them. Bullets were whizzing past. The cops inside were terrified and confused.

It was at this stage that our superiors decided to go to the rescue of the beleaguered friends caught in a Naxal assault. The brave officer led from the front. In about 20 minutes the reinforcements reached the ground zero.

I was part of the team. We crept ahead.

We were a mere 100 metres from the

police station under assault.

It was pitch darkness disrupted by intermittent sparks from the firing from both sides. We realized the police station was under siege from all directions. Some Naxals were sniping from atop of a nearby hostel building.

As I crept ahead, I suddenly found something sticky, gummy on the ground.

I closely held a torch towards that direction. I was careful enough to ensure that the beam of light did not give away my position to the enemy. In the light, I saw it was blood. Close by, someone lay dead! I did not know whether it was a cop or a Naxal.

Could there be many more lying dead?

That very thought sent a chill through my spine. I realized I was getting closer to death. I suddenly charged ahead screaming and shrieking, firing bullets at the invisible enemy. We battled for one hour. But, it seemed eternity. The guns feel silent an hour later. The enemy may have retreated, I felt. I was able to hear frantic shrieks from the roof of the police station. We called out the names of the police personnel inside the station.

Initially, the cops inside were apprehensive. But, they soon realized we were friends. The police rushed into the station from all directions. Bullet poaches tied to the waist, guns in hand and helmets on head, their faces were red

(L-R) G. Sattaiah, Moinuddin, Jilani, G. Venkateswarlu, Somanarsaiah, Namod Reddy, Sultan Moinuddin, Shankarnaik, G. Gangaram, P. Prasad, Lakshmaiah, Lakshminarayana, Chand Pasha, Venkataratnam, G. Krishna Rao, M.A. Khaleem, S. Sekhar Reddy, Shankarji, Chennakesavulu, K. Lakshmaiah, Srinivasulu.

GOPI REDDY YEDULA

with rage. Anger was all-pervading. They wanted revenge and retribution on the Maoist marauders.

The scene inside the police station was like a battle field. Sharpned, pieces of glass and other things were strewn all around. An unexploded grenade gaped at the terrified police personnel.

In a corner, a constable was found dead. He was shot while taking aim. His death, I presumed, was sudden and swift.

Another constable lay dead on the stair.

We went around the station taking stock of the situation and estimating the losses.

From the roof guard’s position, we saw the body of a Naxal lying on the foreground of the police station. We went close to the body and beamed our torch lights at it!

It was a woman Naxal. A gun was lying by the side of the lifeless Naxal. Her hands clutched a fuse wire. The police bullet pierced through her head while she was trying to fix a mine.

Had the mine been blasted? I shuddered at the very thought. At least 15 cops would have died. Would she have realized her socialist dream if the cops were killed?

There was no room for emotions, no time for sentiments. We began sanitizing the area, organizing searches, taking up frisking, cordoning of areas and looking for the Naxals. For us, the police engaged in fighting the anti-national forces, life is a walk through a veritable mine field, with a hail of bullets welcoming us. We march on regardless!

13 years after Tirumalgiri attack, I still hear the frantic shrieks, feel bullets raining all around and the deafening sound of explosions just a few paces away as if in a nightmare.

(The author is President, Telangana State Police Association)

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

Give police what they deserve

How many of us are aware it is not just traffic and crime and VIP security alone; but police are engaged in internal security and deployed in ‘Forward Areas’ in the border?

H

e needs to be present everywhere in time of emergency, be it riot, mishap, burglary, murder, theft, traffic congestion, public meeting, and even a natural calamity. It is his duty to guard VIPs, offshore official guests and celebrities. He has to track down your missing child and free an abducted businessman. He has to do whatever you want him to.

He is the policeman who is required to work 24/7 in times of need. Yet, he is a butt of joke for the members of the socalled civilized society. It is easy for people to criticize a policeman without any iota of liability. The media and the movies work overtime to lampoon the police. Individuals and even Institutions manned by intellectuals compete with each other in casting aspersionson the police. How many of us are aware of the whole gamut of activities and responsibilities the police are required to discharge several times without any notice and without forty winks?

How many of us are aware that in comparison with other agencies embodying the sovereignty of the State, the police discharge their duties without adequate resources and rest? How many of us are aware that failure of any system in our life (like family relations, land relations, even examinations, to name a few) are placing enormous loadon the shoulders of the policemen?

How many of us are aware that the complexity of modern life has unfathomably increased the quantum and quality of work on the police Department; and the increase in resources and manpower is grossly disproportionate?

How many of us are aware it is not just traffic and crime and VIP security alone; but police are engaged in internal security and deployed in ‘Forward Areas’ in the border?

Definitely answers to these queries are self-explanatory. Then how the police are able to deliver goods with

27

success inspite of these constraints and limitations, sometimes at the cost of their lives?

Shri B.N. Mullick, the first Director of Intelligence Bureau, in his A PHILOSOPHY FOR THE POLICE, provides answers. By culture and attitudinal psyche, the policemen are trained to accept any responsibility without projecting their difficulties or lack of resources. It is inherent in their DNA. This is a complement and, at the same time, a curse to the police. The observance of Police Martyrs Day itself is a solid example of this innate culture of Indian Police.

Every year,October 21 is celebrated in commemoration of the police personnel who were killed at Chinese Border. It is since re-christened as Police Martyrs Day. But the question fleeting through the minds of common man now must be: why policemen died at the border, why not the army men?

E DAMODAR IPS A cue to this is provided by MrKuldipNayar, a renowned journalist in his autobiography titled BEYOND THE LINES (pages 101 to 103).

According to MrNayar a police official by name MrLakshman Singh was the first person in 1954 to inform New Delhi about the road that China was building in the Indian territory of Aksai Chin. He took the cover of a trader and mingled with the laborers and gathered this information. The Chinese captured an Indian patrol and tied its members to the tails of horses and dragged them along the road. New Delhi lodged a protest which was rejected with contempt.

But the mindset of New Delhi was not to irritate but to improve relations with China, particularly on the eve of visit of Chou-En-Lai to India. In the meanwhile, New Delhi, ordered establishment of 64 police check posts to register India's presence on the border, notwithstanding protests by the then Home Secretary Jha that "these isolated posts with no support from the rear would fall like ninepins if there was a push from the Chinese side.

We have unnecessarily exposed the policemen to death".

He went on to say: "Frankly this is the job of army, but as it has refused to man the posts until full logistical support is provided, New Delhi has pushed the police". Dear readers, do you need a more significant example than this to reflect for a while before censuring the police, at least on this day of Police Martyrs? Dear readers, is it unreasonable on the part of a policeman to expect from you what is due to him -- respect and resources-- while demanding of him what is due to you? Kindly pause and ponder.

(The author is Dy Inspector General of Police)

An elite force that flushed out ultras Greyhounds

One of the grave threats to the internal security of the country, which include Maoist violence, has left the Union and state governments baffled. Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have time and again admitted that Left wing Extremism is causing a huge problem that the country has been trying in vain to tackle since a long time.

M

aoist violence which has become a complex challenge to national security is putting both central and state governments under confusion.

The complexity of the problem can be understood from the statements of controlling Maoist extremism has become a task beyond capacities.

But there is one force in entire India which doesn’t loses its nerves for Maoist extremism problem. The reason being that Police had a history of restricting extremist activities and getting rid of

them from the state. Such a victory is not a routine one. Maoist extremists have absconded from Telangana and AP, because of the prowess of Police and have established shelter in other states.

As the central government recognised this rare feat, it has indicated to other states, which intend to follow the unique idea of Greyhounds model, to extend financial support to the police department.

Such a proposal made by Central government is a model example for the

K RAJA SHIKHAMANI bravado and denotes fighting spirit of Greyhounds.

However this success was not achieved overnight. In the process of eradicating Maoists from the state 100s of state’s police officers have sacrifice in various means. Since 1960s, the Maoists who are called as ‘Naxalites’ have manifested their supremacy in the villages. For the imperfect and flawed policies of succeeding governments the extremists strengthened themselves and expanded. The local police have not obtained training in Guerilla warfare which the extremists followed according to their principles. The Maoist affiliated organisations do not leave any stone unturned and use all the platforms

KARANAM PRASAD: A HERO IN LIFE AND DEATH

H

e is a true hero, someone who believed in what he was fighting for. For him, it was country first, everything else next. In life and in death, Greyhounds inspector Karanam Varaprasda Rao displayed exemplary courage.

His team had broken the back of Maoists in the all-important Kanchala forest on the strategic Khammam-Chhattisgarh border in a shootout that lasted for well over three hours on April 18, 2013. Kanchala is close to Chintalnar, where the Maoists had killed 70 policemen in 2010.

Among the dead Naxals was Marri Ravi alias Sudhakar, secretary of KarimnagarKhammam-Warangal (KKW) division, which controlled the key K-N area committee.

The other Naxals were all members of the committee. The police recovered four selfloading rifles, one carbine, two 303 weapons, two Insas rifles, a country-made

weapon, one pistol, a single bore barrel gun, three mobile phones, 10 memory cards and seven sim cards.The police, who had credible information that over 100 Naxals were camping in Tuvvarti village; launched a massive operation in the area.

It was a hugely successful operation and Karanam Prasad played a stellar role in it. As the Greyhounds were being evacuated in a helicopter, some Naxals, who were hiding began firing at it. The chopper made good its escape, but Karanam Varaprasad suffered grievous bullet injuries. He breathed his last in the forest region.

He lived a hero’s life and died a hero’s death. He is the only police officer to be martyred in AP this year.

The Ashok Chakra was awarded posthumously for his valor, courageous and brave action!

- V Gangadhar, Sr Journalist

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

BALIMELA MARTYRS

including media, to manifest the anti-naxal activities as atrocious and brutal.

As the local police failed to confront and handle extremist problem, public has lost confidence on police department. In such circumstances, IPS officer Mr.K.S.Vyas contemplated and proposed establishment of a special force to overcome this convoluted problem. Taking a cue from this thought the state’s police wing took necessary actions to float Greyhounds division in 1989. But, even before it took off some who thought in favour of extremists stumbled the Greyhounds proposal.

Consequently Greyhounds wing was named Special Security Force (SSF). This division was deployed for various purposes.

However pursuant to the failure of talks with government, extremists in an enraged mood insensitively resorted to all types of violence. At that juncture the higher officials comprehended the intensity of the problem and rechristened SSF as Greyhounds. When Shri Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy was the chief minister the government announced that “constant battle on extremists as the single-point agenda of Greyhounds”. In the process the founder of Greyhounds Mr.K.S.Vyas was killed by Maoists on January 27th, 1993, when he was in a evening jog with his wife Aruna Vyas in Lalbahadur Stadium, Hyderabad. Mr.Vyas was the first IPS officer to be killed in extremist violence. But with the kind of inspiration Mr.Vyas imparted, the Greyhounds department not only continued its relentless battle against Maoist extremists, but also achieved a great success. But such victories did not happen because of civil policemen.

The credit for enormous success of Greyhounds should be given to inexorable hard work and determination of intelligence department. We need to mention here the words of a senior police officer “Even though we equip ourselves with the most advanced weapons, and have number of commandos such force may not serve the desired purpose unless there is someone to guide when and at whom to use them.” Intelligence units have worked day and night for two decades keeping a vigil on every moment of extremists and gathered comprehensive information about them. Also such units have identified the points where

29

extremists take shelters. If our police are able to track the movements of extremists today within seconds the entire credit goes to the excellent network of police personnel in intelligence department and its sophisticated technology.

“However the police have never crossed their limits and checks” says a senior officer.

Greyhounds’ wing will not recruit its personnel independently. It identifies competent officers in Special Police and from local police, whose capabilities would be checked and enlists them as Greyhound members on deputation. Major percentage of Greyhound members would be from special police which is state’s paramilitary force.

Youngsters below 25 years would be selected and trained in commando style that is required to combat Maoists in intricate forest areas. The Greyhounds training would be proficient and strenuous. For the same reason apart from special police, a paramilitary force, other states also desire to send their forces for training in Greyhounds academy. From the fact that some foreign countries also send their forces for training with Greyhounds, we can understand the expertise and competence of it.

After analyzing the information they receive from intelligence wing, the Greyhound Commandos in coordination with district police members would prepare themselves to perform the duties they are bound to do. In some special situations they do joint operations with local police teams also.

Greyhounds, a synonym for bravery and heroic achievements, have committed innumerable sacrifices. Despite arduous training, the commandos still suffer from ailments like viral fevers, arthritis etc. Hitherto 59 commandoes died in duty. Of them 36 died in a single mishap. This tragic incident took place in Balimela, Odisha state.

The failure of local police in maintaining the secrecy on the movements of Greyhounds resulted in this misfortune.

Concealing the pain in their hearts, Greyhound commandoes are moving ahead in execution of their duties. While trying to put behind the bitter experience, they are performing their responsibilities with the same determination. Respecting their contribution the government is implementing a range of welfare schemes to greyhounds.

(The author is Assistant Director, Police Academy-APPA)

Mumbai attack as it hap pened

10 deadly terrorists set out on Mission Mumbai from Karachi port, hijack a fishing boat and travel by sea from Jakhau off Gujarat to escape being noticed. As they approach Mumbai coast, they switch into an inflatable dinghy to get into Mumbai.

They split into groups and get down to murder, mayhem and devastation with clinical precision. Their journey from Karachi to Mumbai is as follows: Nov 21 evening – 10 terrorists leave Karachi, travel for 38 hours undetected by Indian Navy.

Nov 23 – Terrorists hijack fishing trawler Kuber, kill four fisherfolk, ask the captain to sail towards Mumbai.

Nov 26 evening – arrive at Mumbai coast, kill captain Nov 26, 8.10 pm – the boat docs at Machchimar Nagar, Colaba Badhwar Park

BEGENNING OF THE ATTACK

Wed 9.15pm – Five terrorists barge into Leopold Café, a popular joint and fire indiscrimately.

Wed 9.29 pm – Two terrorists hurl a grenade at a police station near Bootleggers Pub. Enter into Nariman House, which housed Hasidic Jewish group Chabad Lubavitch. Kill inmates, take a rabbi and his family hostage.

Wed 9.24pm – Gunmen run amuck at

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal. Kill dozens of innocent passengers.

Constables put up a fight with the terrorists.

Wed 9.30pm – Terrorists enter into Taj Palace hotel, throw grenades, fire indiscriminately. Hold up some 100 hostages. Massive fire breaks out in the hotel. Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, three top cops of Mumbai fall fighting the terrorists.

Wed 9.35pm – Terrorists take Oberoi Trident, another swank hotel.

Wed 9.55 pm – terrorists blow up a taxi in a suburb in north Mumbai.

Wed 10.15pm – Terrorists hijack a car and open fire on and inside the hospital, killing five cops.

Wed 10.30 pm – Terrorists fire at policemen near Metro Cinema in Colaba, hijack a police vehicle.

Wed 10.45pm – another taxi blows up at Wadi Bandar. Three killed and 15 injured.

Wed 10.50 pm – Police confront two terrorists at Girgaum near the Bombay Municipal Corporation, both terrorists felled by cops, who discover two ribtype boats filled with explosives. It was here that ASI Tukaram Omble caught Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist to be caught alive. Omble attains martyrdom in the fight.

Wed 10.54 pm – firing at Memosis building Wed 10.59 pm – Firing at Cama Building, Terrorist Ibrahim Khan kills top cops Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte.

Wed 11.19 pm - firing at GT hospital.

Thu 00.07 am – fire at head office gate no 6 Thu 00.29 am – firing reported from near State Bank of India and Vidhan Bhavan.

THREE BATTLE ZONES

72-hour ordeal begins at three places – Taj Palace, Oberoi Trident and Nariman House TAJ PALACE (50 deaths, 3 terrorists killed) Wed 10.03 pm – Terrorist siege begins Thu 3.00 am - fire breaks out in hotel, evacuation begins, most people rescued by 4.30 am.

Thu 9.15 am – Elite security forces arrive and the campaign to re-take the hotel begins.

Thu 10.30 am – NSG commandos begin room to room searches.

Thu 11.00 am – still some 50 passengers remain inside. They are held hostages.

Thu 7.00 pm – NSG clears the building from groud to fourth floor.

Fri 00.15 am – all but one terrorist

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WE SALUTE OUR POLICE MARTYRS

killed. Moments later, gun shots heard from the old Taj building, a powerful explosion follows.

Fri 10.57 am – One NSG command seriously injured in the shoot out.

Fri 11.49 am – gunfire and explosion in old Taj building.

Fri 7.20 pm – Intense gunfire, more bodies flushed out, Sat 8.00 am – Major Sandip Unnikrishnan enters the room where the terrorist is holed out.

Martyred in gunbattle.

Sat 8.05 am - last terrorist killed.

Taj liberated.

TRIDENT OBEROI HOTEL

150 hostages rescued, two terrorists killed) Wed 9.35 pm – terrorists enter Trident Oberoi Wed 9.57 pm – attack launched.

Thu 2 am – Military arrives, rescue operations begin, gunfire and explosions continue throughout the day.

Thu 7 pm – 10 hostages rescued.

Thu 8 pm – fire breaks out in the fourth floor, soon after grenade blasts heard.

Fri 1 am – Gunshots heard from inside the hotel Fri 10.30 am – another 30 hostages rescued.

Fri 2.30 pm – Operations end as all the terrorists are killed.

Nariman House (8 deaths, two terrorists killed) Wed 10.00 pm – terror attack begins.

Thu 5.00 pm – Police realize that Rabbi Gavriel Holitzberg is held hostage.

Thu 10.15 pm – gunfire from inside Nariman House, security forces free eight hostages.

Fri 01 am – 7 more hostages freed.

Fri 7.27 am – five commandos land atop Nariman House. Terrorists respond with grenade blasts.

Fri 8.25 am – commandos enter fourth floor, where the terrorists are holed out. Heavy explosions heard. Gunfire and explosions continue till 5 pm.

11.46 pm – Operation ends, five hostages die, all terrorists killed.

Havildar Gajendra Singh, who led the operations martyred.

31

HOW MUMBAI HEROES TAMED TERROR...

Mukhesh Jadhav

T

Hemanth Karkare Ashok Kamte

hey are martyrs who cared little for their lives. They are heroes who went beyond the call of duty.

They were men with Capital M. They rank low in the hierarchy. But stand tall for the cause of motherland. The brave policemen of Mumbai who battled Pak terrorists in 26/11 Mumbai attacks are the real heroes in every sense of the term.

MUKHESH JADHAV: A homeguard who lived on less than Rs 3000 a month.

Even that pittance would arrive late, sometimes by a month. His home was a one-room tenement. But, when the crunch time came, this youth was not found wanting. He tried to ferry across terrified passengers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal to safety. In the process, he came face to face with a armed-to-the-hilt terrorist.

The terrorist shot him in the chest. Bleeding profusely, Jadhav ran to the police outpost to alert them about the terror attack. He died two hours later.

ARUN RAGHUNATH CHITTE: He was Vijay Salaskar’s driver. He was by Salaskar’s side during each one of his 80 shootouts. He never wavered from duty and was always punctural. This Dharavi resident may be poor in money but rich in courage and sense of duty. He was shot dead while chasing a terrorist near Rang Mandir.

TUKARAM OMBLE: In a daredevil and exemplary act of bravery, Assistant Sub Inspector Tukaram Omble confronted Amir Ajmal Kasab, one of the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai Omble, along with police personnel from the D B Marg Police station, apprehended two terrorists at the police barricade at Girgaon Chowpatty.

Vijay Salaskar

Tukaram Omble

Gajendra Singh

Armed with only a baton, Omble pounced on Kasab, taking a hail of bullets in his stomach from the terrorist. In spite of being grievously injured, he did not let him escape and lost his life subsequently. It was because of his bravery that the police could capture the lone terrorist alive.

VIJAY KHANDEKAR: This youth was a wireless operator. He risked his life and entered Cama Hopsital to track the Pak terrorists. The terrorists found him out and rained a hail of bullets on him.

He died on the spot.

HEMANTH KARKARE: The head of Mumbai's anti terrorism squad, Karkare is regarded as a legend in the Mumbai police force, forging a reputation as being extremely honest and forthright.

Formerly a member of India's Research and Analysis Wing, Karkare was the lead investigator in a number of high level cases, including the 2008 Malegaon blasts. On the fateful night of November 26, Karkare teamed up with SPI Vijay Salaskar and AC Ashok Kamte to fight the terrorists. They went down fighting.

VIJAY SALASKAR: He was a renowned encounter specialist who was the head of the Anti-Extortion Cell in Mumbai. He was reportedly responsible for eliminating close to 80 criminals.

ASHOK KAMTE: he was a highly decorated police service officer and an accomplished athlete, who had represented India in the junior power lifting championships in Peru in 1978.

Kamte was renowned for being an excellent negotiator in crisis situations.

He was hugely popular among all sections of the society and the massive turnout at his cremation is an indication of his popularity.