I-day: CG police jawan gets lone PPMG; 990 policemen decorated

A Chhattisgarh Police jawan, who laid down his life fighting Naxals, has been named on the eve of the Independence Day today for the country's highest police gallantry medal, while 989 other central and state police forces personnel will get various service medals.

The maximum number of personnel, 53 out of the total 190 named for the bravery medals, are from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the lead force for anti-Naxal operations in the country.

The country's largest paramilitary was followed by Andhra Pradesh Police (52), Jammu and Kashmir Police (25), Odisha Police (17) and the Border Security Force (14) in winning the gallantry laurels in various internal security theatres.
 

The maximum of the gallantry medals, 142, were accorded to security forces undertaking operations against the Maoists in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) theatre followed by counter- terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, at 40.

Chhattisgarh Police platoon commander Shankar Rao (posthumously) is the lone recipient of the top President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) for leading his team in a fierce ambush with Naxals in April, 2015 in the worst LWE- violence affected district of Sukma in the state.

Seven policemen were killed while ten others were injured in this encounter, where the police estimates that about 35 Naxals were killed.

Among the bravery award winners are six Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, five of them young in the service, and working in the LWE-affected states.

Another IPS officer and Haryana Inspector General (IG) Anil K Rao has been named for the Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG). Rao led his men who arrested Sant Rampal from his ashram after an about two-week standoff in 2014 in the Hisar district.

A six-member CRPF team that neutralised two foreign terrorists in the Nowhatta Chowk area of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on August 15 last year has also been decorated with the PMG.

Policemen of the J and K police and its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) have also been decorated for eliminating terrorists of various cadres during operations in the Kashmir valley, as per the list published by the Union Home Ministry today.