Gurkha Soldier Saves Girl from Rape and Takes on 40 Train Robbers with Only a Khukuri
Bishnu Shrestha, who had just retired from the Indian army where he served as a Gurkha soldier, held off a horde of robbers that tried to rob a train in India. From the article on Republica:
“The band of about 40 robbers, some of whom were travelling as passengers, stopped the train in the Chittaranjan jungles in West Bengal around midnight. Shrestha– who had boarded the train at Ranchi in Jharkhand, the place of his posting–was in seat no. 47 in coach AC3.
“They started snatching jewelry, cell phones, cash, laptops and other belongings from the passengers,” Shrestha recalled. The soldier had somehow remained a silent spectator amidst the melee, but not for long. He had had enough when the robbers stripped an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him and tried to rape her right in front of her parents. He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers.
“The girl cried for help, saying ´You are a soldier, please save a sister´,” Shrestha recalled. “I prevented her from being raped, thinking of her as my own sister,” he added. He took one of the robbers under control and then started to attack the others. He said the rest of the robbers fled after he killed three of them with his khukuri and injured eight others…“Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier; taking on the dacoits in the train was my duty as a human being,” said the Indian army nayak.
Essentially, one man took on 40 armed thieves with only a khukuri. What is a khukuri?
Proud: Queen Elizabeth presents the 31-year-old Gurkha with his medal at Buckingham Palace during an Investiture Ceremony
Corporal Dipprasad Pun defeated more than 30 Taliban fighters single-handedly
Used the tripod of his machine gun to beat away a militant after running out of ammunition
A Gurkha soldier who single-handedly defeated more than 30 Taliban fighters has been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by the Queen.
Corporal Dipprasad Pun, 31, described how he was spurred on by the belief that he was going to die and so had nothing to lose in taking on the attackers who overran his checkpoint in Afghanistan.
His gallantry award is second only to the Victoria Cross - the highest honour for bravery in the face of the enemy.
Cpl Pun, from the 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was presented with the CGC during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, during which a number of other soldiers were recognised for their bravery.
Speaking after receiving the honour from the Queen, the Gurkha said: 'I'm very excited and happy to here in the Palace to receive the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. This will be a great memory for the future.'
The soldier fired more than 400 rounds, launched 17 grenades and detonated a mine to thwart the Taliban assault on his checkpoint near Babaji in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, last September.
At one point, after exhausting all his ammunition, he had to use the tripod of his machine gun to beat away a militant who was climbing the walls of the compound.
Decorated: Sergeant Dipprasad Pun, 31, of the 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles holds his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross
After the ceremony, Cpl Pun was congratulated by investiture guests who queued up to shake his hand.
Speaking about the actions which earned him the CGC, he said: 'At that time I wasn't worried, there wasn't any choice but to fight. The Taliban were all around the checkpoint, I was alone.
'I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I'd kill as many of them as I could before they killed me.
That incident happened in the middle of my tour and after that I thought nobody can kill us now - when we met the enemy I wasn't scared.
'I thought the Taliban did not have the capacity to fight with us.'
Cpl Pun, an acting sergeant during his Afghan deployment, was on sentry duty at the time of the attack when he heard a clinking noise outside the small base.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-die--I-tried-kill-I-could.html#ixzz2un4OGDUp
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