Policemen use antique SLRs against AK-47s armed terrorists
For nearly 11 hours, it required every available pair of hands to counter the group of terrorists who had forced their way into a police station, turning it into their shelter.
Among those who died in Gurdaspur today was senior police officer Baljeet Singh, who headed the detective branch of the local force.
As the gunshots rang out with chilling frequency, it was clear the terrorists were armed to the teeth. At about 5.30 pm, Punjab police officers at the Dinanagar station chanted victory slogans as the operation was declared over and a success - the terrorists had been killed.
Till then, what had been reported was that the terrorists had fired at a bus packed with passengers, car-jacked a Maruti 800 turning it into their ride to the police station, and that seven people had been killed by then.
With the operation over, the details of what the police had confronted could be revealed.
The attackers had AK-47s; the policemen fought back with dated SLRs - Self-Loading Rifles.
No bulletproof vests for members of the Punjab Police SWAT or Special Weapons and Tactics - they had kneepads but no helmets. The footage shows policemen with clearly no tactical training lobbing grenades at the police station, then turning around and running for cover. One massively overweight policeman tried to rush away, his rifle dangling in his hand. Curious onlookers surround the police post, alarmingly close to the scene of immense danger.
Earlier in the day, members of the Special Forces of the Indian Army - some of the most skilled, hardened and well-equipped soldiers in India were deployed to Dinanangar, but the Punjab Police reportedly made it clear they would lead the operations. So India's best-trained troops were asked to restrict their role to cordoning off the area, a task usually assigned to the police.
The fact that the terrorists were eventually all shot dead meant that the operation could be declared a success; but it exposed, once again, the incredible vulnerability resulted by inadequate training and equipment for those who put their lives at risk.