Bishnu Shrestha

Bishnu Prasad Shrestha (born 1975) is a Nepalese Gurkha soldier in the Indian Army (7th battalion the 8th Gorkha Rifles) and recipient of the Sena Medal for bravery and the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak medal for his gallant conduct during an armed train robbery.

Early life, family and education

Shrestha was born in Bachchha Deurali Khola, ward no. 9 of Parbat district in the western part of Nepal.

He and his family moved to Pokhara after being recruited to an Indian Gurkha regiment. His father Gopal Babu also served in the same 7/8 Platoon, retiring in 1981.

Train robbery incident

In September 2010, Bishnu Shrestha was a 35-year-old Gurkha soldier who had just retired. He was traveling from Ranchi to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh via the Maurya Express (Hatia-Gorakhpur) train when between 15 and 40 robbers, armed with "guns, daggers and tangis" stopped the train they were on near Chittaranjan, West Bengal, and robbed and injured other passengers.

Shrestha was asleep when the bandits reached him. Awakened, he was preparing to hand over his valuables, but an 18-year-old girl next to him was grabbed by the robbers who intended to rape her. The girl, who was traveling with her parents, called for help. As one of the bandits was snatching a woman's earrings, he pulled out the large, curved khukuri that all Gurkha soldiers carry and attacked the criminals, injuring three of them, he recalled, although another report stated three bandits were killed and eight more were injured.

Shrestha told the ''Times of India'':

Bleeding and defeated, Shrestha succeeding in preventing the assault of the girl, but the thieves continued robbing the passengers.
Six robbers were arrested, according to a security commandant, and Rs 10,470 in cash, 33 mobile phones, 14 wristwatches, an ATM card, two pistols, live cartridges, and seven daggers in their possession were seized from them. Shrestha recovered full use of his injured hand after receiving two months of medical treatment. Another source reported that loot was recovered elsewhere that totaled "around 400,000 Indian rupees in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items that the fleeing robbers dropped in the train", although the news report did not mention if these figures were confirmed by the authorities.

Aftermath

Shrestha was pleased by the appreciation he received and thanked the media for covering the news, remarking:
He was honored by many organizations (public and private), including mothers' groups, schools and political leaders.

When the intended rape victim's family offered him a cash reward, he refused it, explaining, "Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier. Taking on the thugs on the train was my duty as a human being." However, his regiment gave him a "cash reward of Rs. 50,000 and terminated his voluntary retirement, so that he could get a customary promotion after he receives the medals", as well as "cash rewards from the government, special discounts" on certain air and train travel fares.

In popular culture

Bollywood music director, singer and actor Himesh Reshammiya announced that he would make a biopic on him based upon his heroics of the Maurya Express train robbery.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrestha, Bishnu
1975 births
Living people
Gurkhas
People from Parbat District
People from Pokhara
Newar people