His Name Is Tukaram Ombele

First I would like to thank all those who commented and send me e-mails for the list of martyrs I published here.
If you notice I have listed the names in alphabetical order. That was deliberate as they all went down saving lives. Ranks don't matter here - in death foot soldiers and officers are the same.

As I drew up the list I just could not get Assistant Sub Inspector, Ombele's first name. That irked me a lot. I finally got the name in today's Times Of India (but not their web page at the time of this posting). Turns out that he was the bravest of them all. The sole terrorist who got arrested is courtesy Tukaram Ombele. He hung on to the terrorist's AK47 even after taking the bullets. That provided enough time for the other policemen to nab the terrorist.

But did you get to see the state funeral of Tukaram or any of the 14 martyrs on the TV. Except the officers, of course? A shame that. I have nothing against the officers but every one of those who died took the bullets in their chest, not in their back. All went beyond the call of duty and yet the TV news channel focused on a few state funerals. I don't even know if the others got a state funeral. If that is not evidence of a TRP-hungry clan, then what is?

Note: The picture used here belongs to Ilker. To see more such pictures please visit the gallery.