India, March 25 -- Raju Oyam, from remote Bogra village inside the Bhairamgarh forest in Bijapur district, was abducted by Maoists before he'd turned 10. For the next six summers, the boy shared bunks and broke bread with extremists - brainwashed and trained to wage war against Indian security forces.

On the morning of March 20, in a poetic yet tragic twist of fate, Oyam was the only Indian jawan shot dead in sniper fire during a 10-hour-long gunfight in Bijapur's Andri forest area in which 26 Naxals were killed. Before dying, the 22-year-old shot down four of his former abductors. He'd broken their grasp by surrendering in 2020. As a member of the police District Reserve Guard (DRG), his death was an honourable one in the line of duty....