New Delhi: CRPF DIG Nalin Prabhat, who was
the commander of the force during the deadly Dantewada Naxal
ambush last year and Madhya Pradesh ATS constable Sitaram
Yadav, who was killed by SIMI operatives in 2009, are among
930 police personnel decorated with gallantry and other
service medals on the eve of Independence Day.
The maximum number of gallantry medals --26-- have been
earned by the personnel and officers of the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) which has deployed almost 60000 troops for
anti-Naxal operations in the country.
The CRPF is closely followed by Manipur Police with 24
gallantry medals.
The government today announced President's Police Medal
for gallantry to seven personnel, Police Medal for gallantry
to 95 personnel, President's Police Medal for distinguished
service to 93 personnel and Police Medal for meritorious
service to 735 personnel.
CRPF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Prabhat was heading
the operations of the force when 75 CRPF men and a state
police personnel were killed in one of the deadliest Maoist
attacks on police forces, in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district
on April six last year.
The role of Prabhat, an IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh
cadre (1992), and other senior officers of the force was
probed by various inquiry commissions.
Constable Yadav (32) of the MP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS),
who has been posthumously honoured, was killed in Khandwa
district of the state in November 2009 by Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) operatives.
Yadav was instrumental in cracking several modules of
SIMI and was involved in other such operations.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, August 14, 2011, 17:57