After almost a year of basic training as Directly Appointed Gazetted Officer (DAGO) in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Central Training College of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Neemuch, I set out in July 1973 to join my Battalion that was based in Tamenglong district of Manipur in the northeast.
After a three-day journey with a stopover in Barauni station, I arrived in Dimapur. Since the convoy to Imphal was scheduled to depart two days later, I had to spend the meantime at the CRPF Transit Camp.
On the day of departure, I was dropped at the convoy ground, where CRPF vehicles along with those of the Army had lined up. It looked like we were heading to a war zone.
We were escorted by men in armoured personnel carrier. After the Convoy Commander—a CRPF Officer—had taken count of the vehicles and men, he ordered the convoy to start moving. As we began the trip, I couldn’t conceal my sense of excitement. I was proud to be a part of the force that protects the nation.
Soon, dark clouds enveloped the sky, and it began raining. However, we kept moving. We relished the sight of picturesque villages set atop distant hills.
After more than three hours of journey, the convoy briefly halted at the CRPF DIG’s Headquarters in Kohima. There I was told that three of my Battalion personnel had been killed, and one seriously injured, in an ambush laid by Naga insurgents in Tamenglong.The verdant hills along the road excited me no more. These hills with lush green forests afforded the insurgents a thick cover to conceal and camouflage themselves to ambush the security forces.
Seething with anger at the insurgents who killed my colleagues, I was desperate to reach my Battalion HQ and get into combat mode.By evening, the convoy reached Imphal where we halted for the night. The next day, we were off to Tamenglong. The excitement that marked the beginning of the journey had been supplanted by my impatience to go after these insurgents. After another day-long journey, I arrived at my Battalion Headquarters having experienced a spate of feelings and emotions.