New Delhi: Special Police Officer, Jammu and Kashmir, Barket Ali on Thursday became the first SPO to be awarded Shaurya Chakra for displaying exemplary valour in killing two Lashker-e-Toiba militants in the forests of Doda in Jammu.
34-year old Ali was part of a joint team of J & K Police
and 26 Rashtriya Rifles which launched a cordon-and-search
operation in Thatri forest area of Doda on May 19, 2010.
Leading them to a cow shed in the dense forest where LeT
militants Abu Anas and Abu Maz had holed themselves, he was
first to locate and engage them. In the fierce gun-battle that
ensued, Ali got critically injured.
Ali was airlifted for treatment but breathed his last on
his way to hospital. He was survived by his parents and wife
Tasleema, with whom he got married a year before the
encounter.
The courage displayed by him did not go unnoticed and
Director General of J&K Police Kuldeep Khoda recommended his
name for the gallantry medal despite Ali not being from
regular police force. His wife Tasleema has been given a
government job.
"He set an example of courage and our heart goes with the
family which suffered an irreparable loss," Khoda told a news agency
over phone from Jammu.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 18:18