38-year-old amputee CRPF officer R K Singh, awarded the 'Shaurya Chakra' for a daring operation against Naxals in 2011, displayed his mettle today when he ran a short distance on prosthetic blades in a half-marathon held here to salute martyrs.



The young officer, who undertook the shorter version of the half-marathon with his 12-year-old son Prakhar by his side, was lauded for his grit by cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar who flagged-off the event from the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium here.



"I salute your courage. You are an inspiration. We are just sports persons but you are the true achievers," Sachin told Singh as he met him on the flag off dais.



Actors John Abraham and Nana Patekar, who were part of the same event, walked up to the officer to compliment him for his dare devil approach in life.



Singh has his left leg amputated and has injury to the right one after the Naxal ambush.



The officer, who has been promoted as a Deputy Commandant in CRPF after it was long overdue, has become the first blade runner hailing from security forces combating India's internal conflicts to run a marathon like sporting event.



"I am enthused to undertake this new challenge. It's not difficult. Today I am just taking the fun run but I will train further to run seriously and as competitively as possible," Singh told PTI on the running track.



Singh has seen many odds in his relatively small career in the paramilitary force with the recent being when he was put in a low medical category two years back after the ambush incident which led to a denial of promotion.



As a company commander, he led his troops in a Naxal ambush in Jharkhand's Lohardaga where he encountered blasts triggered by 192 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).



A set of blades have been imported from the United States for Singh to undertake the 'Run for Unity' half-marathon hosted by CRPF to honour its martyrs in the 75th year of its raising.



Singh said by undertaking this initiative, he wants to motivate other fellow troopers and officers in this lead anti-Naxal operations force where fatal injuries are unavoidable at times.



He hails from Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad and has largely been deployed in the anti-Maoist operations theatre after he himself volunteered for the task.



Credited in the paramilitary force as the man who averted another 'Dantewada type' ambush on CRPF in which 75 personnel were killed in 2010, Singh has been awarded the military medal (Shaurya Chakra) for "great determination, extraordinary courage and conspicuous bravery despite being grievously injured" during the operation where Naxals blew a total over 190 landmines simultaneously on May 3, 2011 leading to the killing of 11 policemen.



The lethality of the encounter can be gauged from the fact that apart from claiming the lives of 11 security force personnel (six CRPF and five Jharkhand Police), 44 security personnel were injured, many of them grievously.



The young CRPF officer is only the second from security or armed forces to have taken this sporting mantle in light of his special abilities.



The other such brave heart is an Army Major who was amputated after an encounter.