As a total of 97 police gallantry medals were announced by the government on the eve of the Republic day on Wednesday, more than half (about 52) have gone to those personnel who are either combating Left-wing extremists in various states or have taken on militants and insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
1992-batch IPS officer Nalin Prabhat was awarded the gallantry medal a second time for conducting a daring operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in 2010 to eliminate Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Abu Atif who masterminded the Indian Institute of Science attack in Bengaluru and the Rampur Central Reserve Police Force camp attack.
Young Chhattisgarh cadre IPS officer Ankit Garg was honoured with the bravery medal for spearheading anti-Naxal operations in Maoist hotbed of Dantewada as the superintendent of police.
The troops of the CRPF, deployed extensively for anti-Maoist operations, have not only been decorated with four of the top-notch President's police medal for gallantry out of the total seven in this category, 14 other personnel of the force have got the medals for gallant action in the same theatre of operations.
Constable Bhoop Singh of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was awarded posthumously for gallantry as he took on Naxals at the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border in January last year and succumbed to his bullet injuries.
Another special mention in the daredevils' list is of Border Security Force constable Jai Kishan who in May last year, at the international border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, battled and laid down his life while engaging two intruders in a gunfight from across the border while he was on the 'naka' (picket) duty.
