WARANGAL: When Bandiga Pramod (22), a member of the elite National Security Guard (NSG), called up his parents on Wednesday last to inform them that he was going to Mumbai to take part in ‘Operation Cyclone’ against the terrorists, his parents were a worried lot.
For the next 60 hours, they sat before the television watching various private news channels to keep track of the grim developments.
But they were overjoyed when their son emerged a hero like his other colleagues after gunning down the ultras. ‘’We were tensed up but were relieved after the entire operation was over and the extremists were killed,’’ his parents, Srinivas Rao and Gracemani, who hail from Dornakal in the district, told this website's newspaper .
Besides Pramod, the couple have two daughters. After the operation, Pramod called them again to inform that he would be coming home this month. As part of the NSG’s plan to wrest the Nariman House in Mumbai from the terrorists, Pramod and another commando landed on the Nariman House with the help of a helicopter. The duo entered the complex from atop and continued the assault on the terrorists holed up in the building. After a few hours of shooting, the magazine of Pramod’s gun was emptied but other commandos joined him and they killed the ultras, Pramod told the members of his family and friends while recounting the operation.
Pramod’s heroic efforts have fetched him all-round praise from local people as well as the district officials, including Collector B Janardhan Reddy, district SP V C Sajjanar and Tribal Welfare Minister D S Redya Naik. Pramod, who studied upto Intermediate in Khammam, was selected for the Indian Army in 2003.
“Being the only son, we shot down his request to join the armed forces. We wanted him to go for higher studies but he convinced us and fulfilled his ambition of serving the nation,’’ the couple said.
After joining the Army, Pramod was posted in Goa for a few months and was selected for NSG training in 2006. A member of the Special Action Group 52, Pramod has been living in Delhi since then.