Bishnu Shrestha

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The Sena Medal, awarded by the Indian Government "for such individual acts of exceptional
devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the Army."
Bishnu Shrestha (Nepali: born 1975 in Parbat District, Nepal) is a retired Nepalese
Gurkha soldier in the Indian army and recipient of the Sena Medal for bravery,[1][2] and the Uttam
Jeevan Raksha Padak medal,[3][4] both awarded for his gallant conduct during an armed train
robbery.

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life

2 Train robbery incident

3 Aftermath

4 References

Early life[edit]
Shrestha was born in Bachchha Deurali Khola, ward no. 9 of Parbat District in the western part
of Nepal. This area is a remote but legendary and fertile land of Gurkhas where 80 percent of the
residents are Gurung people, who dominate British and Indian Gurkha Regiments. He and his
family moved to Pokhara after being recruited to an Indian Gurkha regiment.

Train robbery incident[edit]

On September 2, 2010, the then 35-year-old Bishnu Shrestha after retiring from his Gurkha
soldier military service, when he had returned to his homeland Nepal was on his way to
Gorakhpur and was travelling in Maurya Express (Hatia-Gorakhpur), when 15 to 40[5][6] armed
robbers attacked the train near Chittaranjan, West Bengal and robbed the passengers of their
valuables (money, jewellery, cellular phones and laptops).
According to some reports, when the bandits reached Shrestha, he was ready to give up his
valuables, but then the 18 year old girl sitting next to him was grabbed by the robbers, who
wanted to rape her. The girl, who knew Shrestha was a retired soldier, appealed to him for help.
So he pulled out the large, curved khukuri knife that all Gurkha soldiers (and many Gurkha
civilians) carry, and went after the bandits.
In the narrow aisle of the train, a trained fighter like Shrestha had the advantage. Although some
of the bandits had pistols, they were either fake, or mishandled by the frightened robbers. After
about ten minutes of fighting in the train aisles, three bandits were dead and many were
wounded, and the rest of them decided to drop their loot (200 cell phones, 40 laptops, lots of
jewelry, and nearly $10,000 in cash) and flee. The train resumed its journey promptly, in case the
bandits came back, and to get medical aid for the eight bandits who had been injured by
Shrestha.
Shrestha suffered a severe injury to his left arm and required two months of medical treatment to
recover his injured hand.
In other reports, the outcome was somewhat different and Shrestha was less successful although
no less bold.[7]

Aftermath[edit]
Shrestha was pleased by the appreciation he received and thanked the media for covering the
news.
The Indian media brought the incident to light and the Nepali media too gave it due importance.
I may have even been sent to jail on the charge of robbery had the girl and the Indian media not

come forward to my support," Shrestha said. "I was hardly recognized even in Baidam [his
neighborhood]. Now the whole country knows me."[8]
When the intended rape victim's family offered him a large cash reward, he refused it with the
following comment: "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."