Officers of the Jammu and Kashmir state police will receive the highest number of gallantry medals this year – 32 of the 100 that will be conferred on Republic Day – the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Wednesday. These police gallantry medals are among the 777 medals that will be presented this year. Lower ranking staffers were the highest recipients of the awards, The Times of India reported.
Besides the 100 police gallantry medals, 597 police medals for meritorious service and 80 president’s police medals for distinguished service will be handed out. The President’s Police Medal for Gallantry will not be conferred to any officer this year.
The gallantry medals are being conferred for policemen’s acts of bravery in 2014 and 2015. Jammu and Kashmir’s Sub-Inspector Nazir Ahmad Kuchey bagged two gallantry medals for his role in two encounters in 2014 and 2015, during which the force claims to have killed Pakistani militants in joint operations with the Army.
Besides the Jammu and Kashmir police force, the Central Reserve Police Force won 16 gallantry medals, followed by the Border Security Force with five and Sashastra Seema Bal with one medal. Andhra Pradesh’s policemen secured 12 gallantry awards for their work in the Left-Wing Extremism-affected state, while Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh’s staffers secured nine and seven medals, respectively. Ten medals will be awarded posthumously.
Manipur’s P Sanjoy Singh, an inspector, bagged his seventh medal this year, making him one of the most decorated officials in the northeast, The Indian Express reported. Recommendations to award CRPF constables Rajesh Shukla and Randhir Singh, who killed Khalistan Commando Force militant Khajan Singh at Bholewal in Punjab in 1992, have also been cleared.
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