Rocky, the lone gunman: He fought to the last bullet, saved 42 soldiers

At 7.30am on August 5, when a man armed with a Kalashnikov stopped a BSF bus near Udhampur, constable Rocky stood like a rock between certain death and 43 unarmed jawans in the vehicle.

Rocky was sitting beside the driver and was the only gunman in the bus. As the LeT terrorist, identified as Noman, alias Nomi, sprayed the bus with bullets and flattened its tyres, Rocky was hit on the chest. The driver also took a bullet that killed him.

"Despite suffering a grievous wound, gallant Rocky fought on," a BSF officer said. Barely three years old in the force, the 25-year-old jawan kept firing.

Noman, after immobilizing the bus, tried to force open its doors and toss a grenade inside. As another brave BSF soldier, Subhendu Rai, held onto the door preventing Noman from entering the bus, Rocky pumped bullets into the attacker. Seconds later, a bullet fired by Noman's accomplice, Mohammed Naved, now under arrest, pierced Rocky's skull and exited through his neck.

"He fought to the last bullet," BSF DG DK Pathak said. "Had it not been for his raw courage, we would have suffered more casualties."