What began as a routine medical visit for an undertrial prisoner inside Hoshiarpur Civil Hospital on May 16 suddenly turned into a violent hand-to-hand battle between a policeman and an accused determined to escape custody at any cost.

Within seconds of being seated in an e-rickshaw to be taken back to the jail ambulance parked inside the hospital premises, undertrial prisoner Naseeb Singh allegedly pulled out a knife and launched a frenzied attack on Senior Constable Jasdeep Singh, 37, repeatedly stabbing him on the forehead, face, arm and knee while allegedly trying to flee.

Bleeding heavily, gasping for breath and struggling to protect himself and not letting go of his grip on the handcuff tied to the accused at any cost, the policeman continued fighting despite suffering multiple deep knife wounds. According to Jasdeep, even as the accused kept attacking him “wildly”, he repeatedly tried to calm him down, telling him not to destroy both their lives.

But the undertrial, allegedly involved in several criminal cases, including under the NDPS Act, continued attacking and later allegedly attempted to snatch the policeman’s revolver during the struggle on the ground.

The violent confrontation finally ended in retaliatory firing in self-defence, leaving the accused critically injured. He later succumbed to bullet injuries at the hospital, while Jasdeep survived with multiple knife wounds and deep injuries, some of which are still healing weeks after the incident.

Now recovering from the trauma and injuries, the Punjab policeman has narrated to The Indian Express in detail how a routine escort duty spiralled into one of the most dangerous moments of his 15-year policing career, where, despite severe injuries and fading consciousness, he says his only thought was: “I should not let him escape from my custody.”

Jasdeep, who is still undergoing treatment after sustaining multiple deep knife injuries, said the accused attacked him “like a wild man” moments after being brought out of the hospital following a medical examination. Even CCTV footage of the entire encounter revealed the real-life encounter.

“He told me, ‘Today I will go home… I will kill you and cross over your body,’ and before he could even finish the sentence, he attacked me with a knife,” Jasdeep recalled while speaking to The Indian Express from his hospital bed.

The undertrial prisoner, Naseeb Singh of Kotla Gaunspur village, was lodged in Hoshiarpur jail in connection with multiple criminal cases, including under the NDPS Act.

Recounting the incident in detail, Jasdeep said he, along with two other policemen, had been deputed to escort three undertrial prisoners from Hoshiarpur jail to Civil Hospital for routine medical examinations.

“Naseeb had a knee-related issue, so I took him to the orthopaedic department. The medical examination was completed within 15-20 minutes. I informed the in-charge that instead of waiting for the other two accused to complete their exam, I should directly take him (Naseem) back to the ambulance and drop him off at jail,” he said.

According to Jasdeep, the ambulance was parked around 100 metres away inside the hospital premises. Since he has asthma after Covid complications and uses an inhaler, he decided to hire an e-rickshaw to cover the short distance.

“The moment I made him sit in the e-rickshaw, within 40-50 seconds he attacked my forehead with a knife,” he said.

“I immediately caught his hand tightly, but he kept attacking me continuously on my forehead, face and body. He forcefully stabbed my knee several times and finally fisted the back of the knife so that the knife could cut my knee deeply. His intention was clear — he wanted me to stop walking and release him.”

Despite suffering repeated injuries, Jasdeep said he never loosened his grip on the handcuff and came out of the e-riksha.

“My revolver was still inside its cover. I didn’t even have a second to pull it out because he was attacking continuously. But my only thought was that I could not let him escape from custody,” he said.

Jasdeep said that even during the violent struggle, he repeatedly tried to calm the undertrial down.

“I told him, ‘Don’t do this. One day, you will complete your sentence and come out. I also have a family and two small daughters waiting for me at home.’ But he was not listening at all,” he said.

During the scuffle, the accused allegedly stabbed him deeply near the bicep and knee. One of the wounds on the knee is nearly two inches deep and is still healing.

“When I tried to bring out my revolver with my right hand, he stabbed me two or three times near the top of my left arm so that the grip of the handcuffs, which I was holding tightly, could get loosened. I was bleeding heavily and becoming breathless,” he recalled.

The struggle eventually shifted onto the ground, where both men grappled for control of the policeman’s revolver.

“Along with the knife, he then tried to snatch my revolver. During the struggle, the weapon was pointed towards me several times and also towards him. In that chaos, anyone could have been hit,” Jasdeep said.

According to him, warning shots were initially fired towards the ground, but the accused allegedly continued attacking and attempting to grab the weapon.

“One bullet eventually hit him in the chest and another in the arm. After that, he collapsed,” he said.

Jasdeep said that even after the accused pushed him towards a drain, he fell due to an imbalance but soon regained his balance.

“After the firing, I was out of breath and collapsed near a car. After two to three minutes, PCR teams and local people gathered there. Somebody gave me water, and another took me on an Activa to the doctors in the hospital,” he said.

He said he regained partial consciousness only after being given water and using his inhaler.

After initial treatment, doctors later referred him to a private hospital in Tanda, where my family lives, for specialised treatment. Several of his wounds, especially the knee and bicep, still remain deep.

“This is the first such incident in my entire service. I have handled prisoners before, also, but never faced anything like this,” said Jasdeep, who joined the Punjab Police in 2011 and holds an MA in Political Science. His father is a retired teacher.

One major question still troubling investigators is how the undertrial allegedly managed to obtain a knife despite being in custody.

Jasdeep insists the weapon was most likely brought from jail itself. “From the moment jail authorities handed him over to us, he remained under constant watch. We directly took him to the hospital and back. Nobody came near him, nor did I allow him to go anywhere alone — not even to drink water or use the washroom,” he said.

He added that security protocols require physical checks of inmates both during handover from jail staff and upon their return. “When jail authorities hand over any weight to us, they conduct a physical check, and when we return it, we conduct a physical check.” The police are continuing investigations into the source of the weapon.

Despite suffering multiple injuries, Jasdeep maintained that he had no option but to stop the accused from escaping.

“He did everything possible to free himself from custody, attacking me repeatedly, trying to disable me, and even trying to snatch my revolver,” he said.

“At that moment, my only purpose was to perform my duty, protect myself and ensure he did not escape, no matter how badly I was being attacked.”