Composed and stoic, 26 injured security personnel, injured in a rebel blast at dawn in Kuchai, Seraikela-Kharsawan, arrived in batches on a CRPF chopper in the capital, a dista-nce of 82 nautical miles or nearly 152km, early on Tuesday.
From the helipad at Khelgaon, the jawans, all aged between 25 and 30, were carried to Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital at Booty More, surprising hospital staff with their endurance levels.
“These men were bloodied and injured in a blast, many of them severely, and we expected them to be at least screaming in pain,” said an official at Medica. “Instead, they were composed. No shouting. If anything, they were all proud they had been injured in the line of duty,” the hospital official said.
One of the injured jawans, Kuljeet Singh of the CRPF, had to have his left leg amputated below the knee on Tuesday itself. “He was going to lose a limb, but he was talking normally, asking questions about the procedure. We were really impressed,” said the official.
Seven jawans had injuries in their eyes, many more on their faces and chests owing to the splinters, impact and intense heat of the explosion, the official added.
Kuljeet apart, among the CRPF jawans being treated at Medica are Sunil Kalita, Dulal Das, Pradeep Sharma, Bikram Singh, Absul Mehraj, Ranjit Kumar, Chitranjan Jena, Kaleshwar Oraon, Sambhu Malad, Satish Kumar, Md Rahman, Sunish Addy, Pokan Lal, Pankaj Kumar, Rajesh Biki, S. Kural, Suman Dutta, K.Y. Swami, Dharam Deo Ram, Suresh Adin and Rabindra Singh. Those from Jharkhand Jaguar included Patal Hembram and Anuj Kumar.
Media advisor of Medica hospital Anand Srivastava, while sharing the names, added every care would be accorded to the injured. He said most jawans suffered eye injuries but declined to give more details.
A senior official of Jharkhand Jaguar deputed at the hospital also echoed Srivastava, saying seven jawans had suffered injuries in their eyes. He added that Kuljeet’s amputation had been done successfully.
Contacted, CRPF inspector-general Sanjay Anand Latkar said IEDs or improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were often used by Maoists when “they realise they can’t fight face to face”.
