If only he had been issued a gun…

Rajinder Singh Negi had fought insurgents during his service with the Indian Army. On Monday, the 48-year-old bank guard died grappling with men who were trying to rob a customer of his cash, reports Karan Choudhury.

Rajinder Singh Negi had fought insurgents during his service with the Indian Army. On Monday, the 48-year-old bank guard died grappling with men who were trying to rob a customer of his cash.

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Negi bravely took on the two snatchers who were armed with country-made weapons. “He caught one of the men and held on to his pistol. Although the robber managed to shoot him, Negi did not let go of his pistol. He broke the pistol into two pieces,” said Vijay Prakash Gupta, the petrol pump owner who was robbed of Rs 18 lakh.

“Finally, the assailants left the pistol behind and fled with the cash.”

The police said Negi was not carrying any weapon, as he was not issued one by the bank authorities. They have sought an explanation from the bank authorities about this.

“For the past two months, Negi was not carrying any weapon and was unarmed at the time of the incident. He had a gun licence and had time and again asked for a weapon from the bank authorities,” said Ranbir Singh, Negi’s brother.

Negi had retired as a non-commissioned officer from the 9th Battalion of Garhwal Regiment, in 1997. In 2002, he had started working as a security guard with Bank of India, where he was drawing a monthly salary of Rs 6,000. He lived with his wife, sons Ashish (15) and Azad (13) and daughter Asha (17) at their rented house in Pandav Nagar.