Assistant Commandant Sandeep Mishra lost his eye sight during an ambush in 2000.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh having lunch with BSF Assistant Commandant Sandeep Mishra, who was blinded in an ambush with Northeast insurgents in 2000, at the officer's home at BSF Academy in Tekanpur. (Photo: PTI)

Tekanpur: A BSF officer, who lost his eye-sight fighting insurgents, was in for a pleasant surprise on Saturday when Home Minister Rajnath Singh came to visit him and shared a meal with the family.

Singh, who was here to attend a passing out ceremony, was told by senior BSF officers about Assistant Commandant Sandeep Mishra and his wife Indrakshi, who got married four years after he lost his eye-sight in 2000 while fighting insurgents in Assam.

In a touching gesture, the Home Minister visited the house of Mishra, who has a nine-year-old daughter, in the sprawling campus of the border guarding force. Singh praised the valour of the officer, who is in his 40s, and gladly accepted the request of the couple to join them for lunch.

"Met the family of visually challenged BSF Assistant Commandant Sandip Mishra who lost his eye-sight during an ambush in 2000. It is their love for the country which binds Sandip and Indrakshi together. It was a delight to have lunch at their home in Tekanpur," Singh said.

The Home Minister, who spent nearly an hour with Mishra and his family, said the BSF officer derives strength from his wife Indrakshi "who decided to marry him in spite of him being specially-abled".