Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dinanagar, July 28

The residents of Dinanagar are saluting one of their own, Head Constable Sham Sunder (43), who kept at the bay the militants for a good 30-odd minutes after borrowing weapons and ammunition from one of his friends before security forces commenced the actual operation.

Sham Sunder was on the verge of completing his morning walk when he heard a sudden burst of gunfire originating from the rear of the bus stand. A friend told him that some fire crackers were being burst by “some wayward children early in the morning.” But Sham Sunder refused to believe what his friend told him. His policing instincts—he has been with the force for the last 23 years—told him the sound was not of firecrackers. The high decibel sound was a result of somebody firing from an AK-47 rifle.

He immediately rushed to his second floor residential quarters, located within the precincts of the police station, and knocked the door of his flat. Relieved after finding that his wife, son and daughter were safe, Sham Sunder rushed to the roof and engaged the militants who had been holed up 30 metres away in the old DSP building. Before reaching his residence, Sham Sunder had called up his friend Pran Nath Khajuria and had asked him to hand him over whatever licensed weapons he had. Khajuria ran to his residence and within five minutes he handed over Sham Sunder a .12 bore rifle, a .32 bore revolver and 50 rounds of ammunition.

Armed, Sham Sunder took charge on his roof and started firing at the militants. “They had telescopic rifles. Their aim was good. They seemed to be highly trained sharp shooters. I kept on firing as I knew that the police would take nearly an hour to take out the ammunition needed for the operation from the Malkhana located in the Police Lines. First I used my revolver but then I sensed it was not effective keeping in view its limited range. I kept it aside and started using my rifle,” he disclosed.

His wife Ramal Kanta, son Tushar (15) and daughter Diksha (12) kept on requesting Sham Sunder to come down from the roof which by now had been converted into a mini battleground. The head constable, wearing a kurta pyjama, was not willing to listen. After 15 minutes his movements on the rooftop caught the attention of SP (Headquarters) Salwinder Singh. The SP asked him to come down and get dressed in his police uniform.

Sham Sunder clambered down, crawled into his residence and within no time he was again exchanging fire with the militants after wearing his uniform. This continued for nearly 30 minutes till the first batch of armed security personnel made their presence felt. “I made them waste nearly 50 odd bullets. They were firing from AK-47 guns,” he added.

Sham Sunder has his ancestral house in Dinanagar town but for the last seven years he has been staying in the residential quarters meant for policemen inside the police station. Ever since yesterday’s pyrotechnics, Sham Sunder has become a hero among both his colleagues and residents.