28 bullets were fired at Indira Gandhi, 80 bottles of blood administered to save her life

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New Delhi: Today is the death anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by her bodyguards Beant Singh and Satwant Singh on October 31, 1984.

Indira Gandhi was killed by her bodyguards for ordering the storming of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar to counter the Punjab insurgency.

According to a BBC report, when Indira Gandhi was rushed to AIIMS after being repeatedly shot by her bodyguards, 80 bottles of blood were used in attempts to save her life. Three AIIMS doctors Jagdev Singh Guleria, MM Kapoor and AS Balaram made all possible attempts to save her from the multiple bullet injuries, but all efforts went in vain.

Beant Singh, who shot three bullets, was the first one to fire at the ex-prime minister. The bullets hit her stomach, chest, back and an underarm. Another bodyguard Satwant Singh, who possessed a Thompson Automatic Carbine, pumped in 25 bullets into the body of Indira Gandhi.

Indira Gandhi was the only child of India`s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. She was born on November 19, 1917, in Allahabad.

She served as Prime Minister for three consecutive terms from January 1966 to March 1977 and a fourth term from January 14, 1980, until she was assassinated on October 31, 1984.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2016 had revealed that her mother-in-law Gandhi was not "terribly keen" to join politics and given a chance, she would have led a life away from politics.

In an interview, Sonia Gandhi had said Indira Gandhi's deep sense of duty towards the country and the people brought her to politics.

"I think she herself did not want to be in politics, perhaps this is something that very few know. She was not terribly keen to join politics.

"I think, left to herself, she would have chosen to live a normal life. It was her deep sense of duty towards the country and the people that brought her to politics," she said.