Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi inaugurates the gate built in memory of Laxman Singh Yadav at Tilauthu in Rohtas district on Saturday. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Patna, July 16: A valiant cop who made a supreme sacrifice nine years ago was paid a fitting tribute today.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today unveiled a bust of martyr Laxman Singh Yadav, a dafadar in Bihar police, and inaugurated a gate built in his memory at Loharadih, a Maoist-hit village under Tilauthu police station in Rohtas district. Yadav lost his life while discharging official duty.

BJP MLA from Sasaram Jawahar Prasad, member of Legislative Council Awadhesh Narain Singh, Rohtas superintendent of police Manu Maharaj and sub-divisional officer Khursheed Anwar Siddique were present on the occasion.

The 1.5-hour fierce encounter of August 11, 2002, between a section of policemen and 150 Maoists is still fresh in the minds of the people of Loharadih village, about 5km east of Tilauthu police station. Four policemen were killed in it. The police team was attacked by the armed guerrillas of the banned outfit while returning to the police station from Chandanpur village after on-the-spot verification of an incident related to dispute over a plot of land.

Recalling the encounter, the villagers said the policemen travelling in a jeep suddenly found themselves caught in a whirl of bullets fired by the Maoists. “The rebels had taken shelter in the nearby forest and were waiting for the arrival of the police. Two policemen first got down from the vehicle after its tyres were hit by stray bullets. They were the first to fall prey to the bullets fired by the rebels,” said a villager, who was an eyewitness to the incident.

“Baliram Singh, a constable, fought the Maoists even after being hit by a bullet in the thigh. Though it could not be known whether any Maoist was killed in the exchange of fire, Singh’s valour had then become a talking point among the villagers,” he added.

Three persons — driver of the vehicle, a constable and a jamadar — had survived the attack.

“They survived because the Maoists assumed them to be dead,” the villager said, adding that the injured cops were provided first-aid at a local hospital from where they were shifted to another hospital.

“Yadav’s bust has been installed and a gate built in his memory with donation collected by villagers,” said Birendra Singh, a resident of Loharadih village.

Residents said the third policeman killed in the encounter was identified as Ehteshan Ahmad, a havildar posted at Tilauthu police station.