Three years after he led a daredevil operation against a gang of robbers armed with sophisticated weapons and high-tech equipment, an IPS officer of West Bengal cadre received a gallantry award this Independence Day.
Vidit Raj Bhundesh, a 2016-batch IPS officer, was posted at Bengal's Chandannagar in November 2021 when four armed criminals targeted the local branch of a fintech firm. They came with automatic guns and jammers to block outgoing phone calls.
The robbers threatened the staff and customers on gunpoint. When one of them resisted, they hit him on the head and he started bleeding. A brave staff member managed to press an alarm that alerted the fintech company's security control room in Visakhapatnam, which reached out to the Bengal police.
Soon after, Mr Bhundesh and his team reached the spot. The criminals, on spotting the cops, opened fire. Three criminals were arrested and one of them managed to escape. The building was secured, the staff and customers being held hostage were freed and the injured were rushed to hospitals. The whole operation lasted about 15 minutes.
Police recovered three automatic guns, network blockers and looted cash and gold from the arrested criminals. In less than two years, the arrested were convicted. They were also found to be involved in other robbery and murder cases.
Mr Bhundesh, currently posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police in the detective department of Kolkata Police, was awarded the Shaurya Padak, which is given to police personnel for outstanding gallantry with a record of overall satisfactory service.
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