An unarmed Army doctor who grappled with a suicide bomber to save the lives of his colleagues when their guesthouse in Kabul came under attack has been posthumously named for the nations highest gallantry award,the Ashok Chakra,on the occasion of Independence Day. Major Laishram Jyotin Singh was posted at the Childrens Hospital in Kabul as part of the Indian Medical Mission when the guesthouse he was staying in with the medical team was targeted by suicide attackers on February 26. The doctor,who was unarmed,tackled a fully armed suicide bomber who was firing with his AK-47 and lobbing grenades inside the guesthouse while advancing towards a nearby room in which several officers were huddled. The officer,who was posted to Kabul less than a fortnight before the attack,managed to snatch the automatic rifle from the terrorists hands but died when the attacker detonated his suicide vest. Major Singhs action saved the lives of six colleagues in an adjacent room. On the fateful day,the guarded compound of Indian Embassy in Kabul,housing six Army medical officers,four paramedics and two other Army officers of the English Language Training Team came under attack by several suicide bombers. While one of the terrorists blew up a suicide vehicle-borne explosive device and killed the security guards,another entered the compound to finish off the survivors. Following the bomb blast,five unarmed officers took shelter in a room which subsequently caught fire after a grenade attack while another group of five officers took shelter in a bathroom. While he was also slightly injured in the attack,Maj Singh crawled out from the debris in his room after hearing the shouts of his colleagues. Maj Laishram Jyotin Singh charged with bare hands at the armed terrorist and pinned him down to ensure that the terrorists could no longer lob more grenades or direct fire at the officers cornered in a burning room. He continued to grapple with armed terrorist and did not let him go till the terrorist panicked and detonated his suicide vest,resulting in the instantaneous death of the terrorist and martyrdom of Maj Laishram Jyotin Singh, his citation,released on the occasion of Independence Day,reads. Singhs action saved the lives of 10 of his colleagues. Two of his colleagues,Major Deepak Yadav and Nitesh Roy of the Army Education Corps,who died in the attack have been awarded the Shaurya Chakra. Major Singh,who belonged to Nambol Awang Leikai,Bishnupur in Manipur,graduated from the Regional Institute of Medical science at Imphal in 1996 and joined the Army Medical Corps in 2003. While he joined as a short service commission officer,he opted for permanent commission in April 2007. He is survived by his parents who reside in their native place.
