Commonwealth Hero Dies Fighting
A 51-year-old Subedar by the name of Fateh Singh sacrificed his life on Saturday fighting an attack on the Indian Air Force(IAF) base near Pathankot.
Remembered fondly by his colleagues as “an inspiration” for his skills with the rifle, Singh was a Commonwealth champion shooter, having won multiple medals for the country during the Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in Delhi in 1995.
He had won gold in the Big Bore Rifle Three Position and silver in Big Bore Rifle Prone Position.
He was one of the first big bore rifle international shooting medallists in our country. He was an inspiration to all of us. He was like my guru and guardian when we were together a part of the shooting team at the Army Marksmenship Unit in Mhow. He had immense love and passion for shooting.
C.K. Chaudhury, Singh’s former fellow shooter for the Army
Fateh’s family was jolted out of sleep in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Their first reaction was to alert Fateh who was on duty but their calls were unanswered,The Indian Express reports.
It was late during the day that they were informed of Fateh’s death.
Papa left around 2 am as his duty was to start at 3 am. After we heard the shots we got up and came out and started looking for Papa. An Air Force personnel asked us to go inside as the firing was very close to our room and told us that some terrorists have entered the air base. We went inside and hid under the bed… Not knowing that Papa had already fallen to terrorists’ bullets, we kept calling on his cellphone but got no reply.
Fateh’s daughter Madhu to The Indian Express
Fateh Singh, retired as subedar major (hon) captain from Dogra regiment in 2009. After retirement, he joined the Defence Security Corps (India) as subedar and was initially posted at Army War College, Mhow. He was posted in Pathankot about two years back.