homage to Punjab DSP Baljit Singh saab ~ and kudos to hockey players Jugraj, Daljit & Baljit !!

Great  hearty salute to these men ! – they safeguard the Nation, protecting people like us.

Do you love Hockey and have a liking for Hockey players …… our love, affection and respect for them would go many notches, after reading this.  Jugraj Singh is seen here – he is a real hero alongside Daljit Dhillon & his brother Baljit.

Jugraj   Image source www.punjabkesari.com                              .. Baljit Singh above ...

Suspected Pakistani terrorists stormed a police station in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district on 27^th July 2015, killing seven people and wounding 10 others – the terror strike came weeks after Prime ministers Shri Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif met in Russia and agreed that top security officers from the two countries would meet to discuss counter-terrorism.The 11-hour siege in Punjab ended after government forces surrounded the building in Dinanagar town and gunned down the three militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).  The area’s superintendent of police (detective), Baljit Singh, was among those killed, apart from three security personnel and three civilians.Investigations revealed that the gunmen were Punjabi-speaking Muslims on a suicide mission with body parts shaven and all marks erased to trace their origins back to Pakistan, officials said. Fidayeen (suicide) attackers ritually shave themselves before embarking on a mission, sources observed.

The family members and neighbours, who gathered at the house, described Baljit Singh as a seemingly docile cop with valour running in his blood. Even today, he was reportedly leading from the front firing from a rooftop of an adjoining building of the police station, where the terrorists had holed up.  Another tragic day for the Nation – 27^th July 2015 – the Gurdaspur attack – the 3 gunmen dressed in army uniforms opened fire on a bus, and then attacked the Dina Nagar police station. Five bombs were also found planted on theAmritsar–Pathankot line on a rail-bridge near Parmanand railway station, five kilometers from the site of attack.

The 1966-born Baljit Singh  had joined the force in April 1986.  He was  promoted as PPS in Sept 2006 and still had nine years of his service due. He remained deployed as DSP at Barnala, Faridkot, Batala, Dera Baba Nanak, Ludhiana and Amritsar.  Martyrdom is nothing new for the family – he is the third member of the family to have died a hero’s death.  His father too lost his life, killed by militants during the height of militancy in Punjab in 1984. Great person and great family, to whom the people of India, should remain indebted.

Dhyan Chand, the wizard known for his superb ball control, scored more than 400 goals during his international career.  This Rajput joined the Indian Army atan young age and in the initial years, played army hockey tournaments and regimental games. Chand was ultimately selected for the Indian Army team which was to tour New Zealand. Returning to India, Chand was immediately promoted to Lance Naik.  Besides, Dhyan, there was Col. Balbir Singh Kular who played as full back.  In 1965, Balbir Singh joined the Indian Army and later, rose to the rank of Colonel. As a member of the national hockey team, he toured Europe and many other countries with the team and was part of the  teams that won the Asian Games Gold in 1966 and the Olympic Bronze in 1968. He scored three goals in the 1968 Olympics.

We should hail our hockey stars – not only for playing the National game – more for this – the stars were part of Gurdaspur Operations. ***

Times of India, of date reports that - Jugraj Singh, Daljit Dhillon& His Brother Baljit– were called to join team that fought terrorists.  Three former Indian hockey players -  drag flick expert Jugraj Singh, former India captain BaljitDhillon and his brother DaljitDhillon,  were all called to join the Punjab Police team which was involved in the operation to eliminate the terrorists who had attacked the border town of Dinanagar near Gurdaspur on July 27. The trio had been rushed to Gurdaspur from their place of posting soon after the attack on the police station.

Daljit (DSP-Attari, Kapurthala) and Jugraj (DSP-Investigation, Amritsar Rural) were part of the operation during the day while Baljit, Superintendent of Police, Investigation (Hoshiarpur), was asked to be ready for action if the operation stretched beyond the evening. That situation did not arise.“I can't talk about the mission in detail as it's a sensitive issue,“Jugraj told TOI on Monday while on his way to another “mission“. But he revealed this much to a news agency: “As soon as the message about the incident was flashed we rushed to the site to neutralise the terrorists,” Jugraj said. “We reached Dinanagar at about 8:15 am in the morning and took our positions,” said the former India star who was known as a fearless performer during his playing days.

Baljit, who formed a deadly combination with DhanrajPillay during his playing days and who also played alongside Jugraj, said he was waiting for his turn to join the operation when it ended- “Had the fighting carried on, we would have joined it,“ he said.Baljit refused to give details, but revealed that personnel from his unit reached the spot in the afternoon. “My brother Daljit and Jugraj were on the spot since morning.“ The former forward said that there was only one thought when he received the orders – to save the people. “We had no feeling. No fear. The only thing on our minds was to achieve our target, to save the people,” he said. “It was quite like hockey where once we went into the ground, the only focus was on scoring goals.”

Baljit said he was lucky to get the opportunity to serve the country in its hour of crisis. “Yeh to farzbantahai (This is my duty). It's an honour to be part of the Punjab Police and get such opportunities to serve the country.  He said that the only problem he faced after the incident was when a wrong post on a social networking site made people believe that he had been killed in the attack.Gurdaspur SP-Detective Baljit Singh was killed in the terrorist attack.“Someone posted his name along with my photo on the social networking site.It kept circulating and people kept calling my home for days,“ said the former player who represented in two Olympics- Atlanta Games and Sydney Games.

Ironically,  the slain SP had replaced former India wrestler Jagjit Singh Saroya in his post just 11 months before the dastardly attack.  Homage to the fearless SP Baljit Singh and appreciations to the Hockey stars – Baljit Singh, Daljit Singh and Jugraj.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

4^th Aug 2015.