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Training avoided panic during attack on Uri hydroelectric project during Operation Sindoor: CISF offer who shot drones
CISF personnel at the Uri hydroelectric power plant near the line of control(LOC) were told to be on high alert, switch off the lights
Within an hour of India launching Operation Sindoor by striking terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir(POK), CISF personnel at the Uri hydroelectric power plant near the line of control(LOC) were told to be on high alert, switch off the lights, and follow the drill practised in the days before that on May 7.
Assistant sub inspector (ASI) Gurjeet Singh, who received a DG’s disc along with 18 others for their bravery during Pakistan’s failed attacks at the vital installation, was one of the officers who shot down enemy drones targeted at the vital installation which is around 8-10 km away from line of control.
“As soon as India launched Operation Sindoor and bombed the terror bases there, we received a message from the headquarters asking us to switch off lights and be on high alert,” Singh said that while the CISF personnel were switching off the lights, the Pakistan army started shelling from across the border.
The hydropower project, one of India’s most vital and sensitive assets, was one of the first targets as part of Pakistan’s response.
Singh said that despite heavy shelling in and around the LOC, there was no major damage or loss of life because the teams on ground had extensively prepared for such an attack. The plant located near the LOC also has residential quarters of the NTPC and CISF personnel. It is guarded round the clock by CISF personnel due to its vulnerability.
“During the day (afternoon of May 6), drills had been conducted on mass evacuation of families to bunkers in case of any attack from the enemy. By around 2.30 am (May 7), when shelling started from Pakistan, our personnel on ground had already started moving families to the safe bunkers. Everything worked smoothly because of preparations in the previous days. The only difficulty was waking up families who were fast asleep and did not know what was happening,” Singh said, adding that only a few abandoned quarters sustained damages.
“The preparation was such that every family was inside the bunker. The routes to take to go towards the bunkers as decided in the mock drills were such that not a single person sustained even a small injury during the evacuation process. There was heavy shelling outside to which our forces gave the most appropriate response,” he added.
HT had on May 5 reported that following the Pahalgam attack and high alert in different parts of India, the then CISF director general RS Bhatti and other officers had visited the installations to review the security. The officers had also met with the J&K lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha as part of the security review of at least 11 sensitive installations guarded by the J&K, which are under CISF cover.
ASI Singh, who is now among the heroes of Operation Sindoor, by successfully guarding the vital installation, said that from the third night(May 8) Pakistan had started sending drones towards the civilian houses and the Uri 1 and 2 hydro electro plant.
“Some of our personnel jammed and shot down enemy drones that had come towards the main gate of Uri 2 project. The bigger drones that were spotted high in the sky were neutralised by our sister agencies. None of their drones inflicted damage at the plant or any vital asset,” he added.
The force said in a statement on Tuesday: “Amid intense cross-border shelling in May 2025, CISF teams at Uri Hydro Electric Projects displayed extraordinary courage, safeguarding vital national assets and evacuating 250 civilians to safety despite the high risk to their own lives. Led by Commandant Ravi Yadav, with the officers and personnel carried out real-time threat analysis, reinforced bunkers, maintained critical communications, neutralised hostile drones and ensured zero civilian casualties — upholding the highest standards of Protection & Security.”
The DG’s Disc awarded to 19 personnel on 25.11.2025 at CISF HQrs New Delhi, stands as a tribute to their courage and steadfast commitment to the nation.
