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Phoolan Devi, who always feared that her past would catch up with her, had unflinching trust in the loyalty of her Personal Security Officer (PSO) Balwinder Singh.
Balwinder proved himself worthy of that trust at the time of the attack on the dacoit-turned-parliamentarian outside her residence in Delhi on Wednesday, though his bravery has gone almost unsung.
Despite taking three bullets in his stomach from the assailants who got Phoolan, Balwinder returned the fire and injured one of them.
He then limped back to the bungalow and shouted at Phoolan's personal staff to alert the Police Control Room.
Balwinder underwent an operation on Wednesday evening at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where Phoolan Devi was declared 'brought dead'.
He is now recuperating after the bullets were removed from his body.
The Maruti car, which the assailants used, had bullet marks on its glasses, which may have forced them to abandon it just a kilometer away from the scene of the shootout.
A senior Delhi police official said that Phoolan was aware of Balwinder's unflinching loyalty to the person whom he was assigned to protect.
That was the reason for her creating a furor a couple of months back when Balwinder Singh was transferred out from his present job.
It was a routine transfer, a senior Delhi police official pointed out.
However, Phoolan did not waste any time in getting the order revoked.
She had barged into the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Security) Satyendra Garg, located in Chanakyapuri in south Delhi, protesting against the transfer.
The DCP was not in his office and so Phoolan had lodged a written complaint, requesting that Balwinder Singh not be moved out.
DCP Garg had later revoked the transfer order.
PTI adds:
Qayoom Khan, another security guard assigned to slain Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi and who was reportedly missing for some time, on Thursday turned up at the police lines in Mirzapur and was promptly placed under suspension for dereliction of duty, a senior police official said.
DIG (Mirzapur range) Gurudarshan Singh said that Khan, a Delhi policeman, came to the police lines in Bhadhoi and told the Superintendent of Police that he was sent to Bhadhoi by Phoolan herself to drop one of her relatives.
Singh said he had ordered suspension of Khan as he was not 'performing his duty', which was to protect Phoolan and not drop her relatives.
Phoolan Devi's Death: Complete Coverage
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