New Delhi, Oct 17: Army officials and colleagues from the parent unit of Akshardham shootout hero, Surjan Singh Bhandari's visited him today at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences where he lies in a coma. A ceremony was organised at the hospital where the Colonel of the Regiment of Garhwal Rifles and Garhwal Scouts, M. C. Bhandari, Commandant Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, G. Dawar, along with other officers, prayed for his recovery. The occasion for the visit by his superiors and colleagues was the National Security Guards (NSG) Raising Day which Rifleman Bhandari had joined from Garhwal Scouts in 2001. He took part in the Akshardham operations in Ahmedabad after terrorists had occupied it in September 2002. Injured, he has been in a coma since then, first in Ahmedabad and now in AIIMS as his family, living in Garhwal hills, found it difficult to look after him.
Rifleman Bhandari, affectionately called Bhula in Garhwali, belongs to Chamoli district. He was instrumental in killing the desperadoes.