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INDUSTRY |
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CRPF’s Assistant Commander R.K. Singh gets Shaurya Chakra |
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AC R.K. Singh with his wife and son
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On 3 May 2011, a team of CRPF along with some of the civil police component launched an operation after receiving the information about the presence of the Maoists in the hills of Hurmur and Ganeshpur in Jharkhand. Few minutes after the search in the hilly forest area, the teams faced the first blast at about 10.45 am. It proved to be a precursor to more than 190 blasts which took place simultaneously, within minutes of the first blast, along the stretch of 800 metres. Eleven jawans died while many others were severely injured. The firing from the Maoists commenced just after the blasts went off. The Maoist teams then announced that the CRPF and the police parties had been surrounded from all sides and demanded that they lay down the arms and surrender. Their aim was to kill the troops and loot the weapons.
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This incident, which holds a close resemblance to the Chintalnar massacre of Dantewada, could have ended up in the similar way. However, the injured teams at the site returned fire and eventually succeeded in bettering the Maoists. Despite the planned effort and the advantageous position in the hilly regions, the Maoists were unable to succeed in their ambush. This brave operation was headed by assistant commandant of CRPF, R.K. Singh, who is now honoured with the gallantry award, ‘Shaurya Chakra’, which was announced on the eve of Republic Day.
Now posted at the CRPF Group Centre in Greater Noida, looking after the administrative affairs, R.K Singh, in an interview to FORCE said, “I instructed my teams to control fire initially and observe the area to point out the threats from all the directions. This eventually helped us as the Naxals wasted a lot of ammunition in their initial attack and had to soon give up.” Singh was constantly in communication with the higher officials till the rescue teams arrived at the site. During the operation he sustained a serious injury in his left leg which was later amputated. “The most challenging aspect is the task of keeping the team engaged in the operation without panicking,” he said.
R.K. Singh joined the CRPF after his graduation in 1990 as a sub-inspector and was posted in Punjab. He was then given an opportunity to finish an army weapon instructor course. He went through two of the deputation courses. One of them was with the National Security Guard for five years, spanning from 1993 to 1998 and then later, another with the Special Protection Group, for seven years, from 2000 to 2007. He was posted in a CRPF unit in Tripura as the assistant commandant. The unit later moved to Jharkhand where this operation took place at Ganeshpur.
However, one of the biggest grudges which the CRPF troops hold is that this
recognition is a rarity. Handling areas affected by the Left Wing Extremism is
an extremely challenging task which demands tremendous amount of effort and
grit. Hence, recognition of their valiant efforts would go a long way in
boosting the morale of the troop. R.K. Singh is only the second person to
receive the Shaurya Chakra after its CoBRA commando Ashish Tiwary was awarded
the bravery medal last year.
Dilip Kumar Mekala
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