As many as 939 police personnel were awarded service medals, which includes 189 for gallantry, on the eve of Republic Day.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) published a list containing names of personnel who have been decorated with the Police Medal for Gallantry, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, and the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.
Among the 189 gallantry awards, 134 personnel are being awarded for their gallant action in the Jammu & Kashmir region, 47 for their bravery in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas, and one personnel for similar conduct in the northeast region, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.
The highest number of bravery medals — 115 — have been awarded to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, followed by 30 to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), ten to the Chhattisgarh Police, nine to the Odisha Police, seven to the Maharashtra Police, three each to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and two to the Border Security Force (BSF), among others.
Eighty-eight personnel have been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal while 662 have been given the Meritorious Service Medal.
Ritu Misra, Joint Director, MHA, Kohima, and Rashmi Sinha, Joint Director, MHA, Guwahati, have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service. The Distinguished Service Medal has also been awarded to Sudesh Chandrakant Sawant, Assistant Director, MHA, Srinagar.
The Police Medal for Gallantry has been given to the team of Assistant Commandant Ashok Kumar, and Inspectors Suresh Lal and Neela Singh of the ITBP, for killing two wanted Maoists during a fierce encounter in the LWE-affected area of Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district in February 2018.
