NEW DELHI
Jan 25 (PTI)
ATOTALof942police, fireandcivildefence
personnel have been awarded different
categories of gallantry and service medals
on the eve of the Republic Day, according
to a Government statement issued on
Saturday. These include 95 gallantry
medals. The awardees include the personnel of police, fire,home guard and civildefenceandthoseworkingincorrectional
services, the Union Home Ministry said.
SEVEN J&K POLICE OFFICERS GET
AWARD: SEVEN of the 15 Jammu and
KashmirPolice officers,including former
KashmirZoneinspector general of police
Vijay Kumar, awarded gallantry medals
on the eve of Republic Day, played a key
role in averting a possible terror attack
on the
Amarnath Yatra three years ago,
officials said.
TheMedal for Gallantry recipients also
includedHumayunBhat,adeputy superintendent of police who was one of four
officers to lay down their lives during an
encounter with terrorists in
south Kashmir’s Kokernag in
September 2023.
Bhat had been honoured
withtheKirtiChakraforextraordinarybraveryon theeveoflast
year’s Independence Day. In
addition to the 15 gallantry
medals, Anand Jain and Nitish
Kumar -- two additional directorsgeneralofpolice-rankofficers --received the President’s
MedalforDistinguishedService
while 10 other officers were
awarded the Medal for
MeritoriousService.Duringhis
tenurein Kashmir asinspector
general of police, Kumar generated an input that a group of
terroristswereplanning tocarry out an attack on the annual
Amarnath Yatra in June 2022,
the officials said on Saturday.
On June 14, a small police party headed by Rakesh Balwal,
the-thenSrinagarseniorsuperintendent of police, under
Kumar’s supervision, stopped
a vehicle atBemina on the outskirts of the city, leading to an
encounter. The officials said
twohardcore terrorists,including a Pakistani, were eliminatedduringtheoperationthatwas
conducted without the assistance of the Army, the Central
ReservePoliceForce,andintelligence agencies.