Indian hockey stars part of Gurdaspur Operation

NEW DELHI: Three former Indian hockey players – drag flick expert Jugraj Singh, former India captain Baljit Dhillon and his brother Daljit Dhillon – 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 fear less performer during his playing days.

Baljit, who formed a deadly combination with Dhanraj Pillay during his playing days and who also played along side 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 farz banta hai (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.

THE THREE BRAVEHEARTS

Baljit Dhillon: Ace forward Baljit Singh Dhillon, who featured in about 300 matches for India, was decorated with the Arjuna Award in 1998. He also represented the country in three Olympic Games between 1996 and 2004. He was awarded the man-of-the-series in the Indo-Pak series in 1999 for his nine goals. He is now employed as a superintendent of police in Punjab.

Jugraj Singh: Jugraj was easily amongst India’s most promising players before his career was cut short in a car accident in 2003. The defender was famous for his ferocious drag-flicks. He made valiant efforts to return to the Indian national team, but could not make much of an impact and chose to groom budding drag-flickers.

Daljit Dhillon: The 35-year-old Punjab forward played 88 matches for India. He made his international debut in 1998. The Jalandhar-born Daljit is the brother of Baljit Singh Dhillon. He was a DSP (Attari, Kapurthala) in Punjab Police. He played in the World Cup, Asian Games and the Champions Trophy teams in 2002.