NEW DELHI: He might have lost his eyesight but not the courage to fight. On Saturday, when Aditya Singh, 21, was told he might never see ever again, the CRPF constable insisted he wanted to return to the Dantewada forests to fight the Maoist rebels.
"I want to meet them one more time. They have physically injured me, but my spirits have not died just yet," said Aditya from his hospital bed. The constable from Jarol village in UP's Bulandshar district is one of the two jawans of the 62nd CRPF battalion who survived Thursday's attack in which 76 policemen were killed.
A senior doctor said Aditya had "lost complete sight in his left eye...has partial vision in the other...but may not be able to see for the rest of his life."
Aditya, who has two small children, said he was injured when a bullet hit his AK-47.
Recalling the early morning ambush in Dantewada in Chattisgarh, Aditya Singh (21) a CRPF constable and a father of two small children, said, "We were returning to our base around 6am when the Maoists attacked us. I fired 120 rounds at them."
"One of their bullets grazed past my face, but I was not bothered. But a bullet hit my loaded AK-47 magazine. It exploded in my face. I lost consciousness," he recalled the attack. "When I regained my senses, I was in terrible pain. Six hours later, the rescue party found me and took me to hospital. Doctors said the ultras had tried to gouge out my eyes to make sure I didn't survive."
According to Ajay Chaturvedi, the CRPF spokesperson, Aditya joined the paramilitary forces three years ago. "He was seriously hurt in the attack and was admitted to a hospital in Raipur. But as his condition deteriorated, his eyes needed to be operated upon urgently. After the doctors there said they did not have the facilities for such a complicated operation we decided to shift him to Delhi. He was underwent surgery at AIIMS the same night," Chaturvedi told Times City.
A team of doctors under the supervision of Dr Tushar Agarwal, assistant professor, ophthalmology, AIIMS, conducted the reconstructive surgery of both eyes on Friday night. "We have conducted the primary repair surgery for the right eye and the reconstructive surgery of the left eye. He has lost vision in his left eye and attempts are on to restore sight in the right eye," said a doctor with the AIIMS ophthalmology department. "When we first assessed his condition, we found his left eyeball missing. The rear of the retina in the right eye was severely damaged. There was detachment of the retina."
According to CRPF sources, the organisation will bear the entire cost of Aditya's medical treatment. The brave jawan's elder brother, Ajit, said Jagdalpur was Aditya's first posting.