Lucknow :
Fifteen years after one of the fiercest gunbattles between the police and Naxalites in the state left 15 ultras dead, six police personnel of the ambush party will be awarded President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on Saturday. While the senior-most officer leading the team has retired from services, one of the junior-most members has passed away and will be awarded posthumously.
In all, 15 police personnel, including 7 IPS officers, involved in five different operations between 2001 and 2011 have been shortlisted for the gallantry award for their valour during police operations.
The encounter with the Naxalites took place on March 9, 2001 in Bhawanipur village of Mirzapur following a specific tip-off that more than a dozen people armed with latest rifles and ammunition had gathered in the village. About a dozen police teams zeroed in on the village and after evacuating the civilians, raided the hideouts of the Naxalites. As many as 15 Naxalites were killed and police recovered a total of 13 rifles, guns and pistols apart from a satchel of cartridges and countrymade rocket bombs from their possession.
The special task force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) bagged a total of five gallantry medals for operations in Lucknow and Noida. The Lucknow operation relates to an encounter in 2006 in which listed gangster Sachin Pahari, who was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, along with his aide Vikas Kannaujiya were killed in Triveninagar area of the state capital. Police recovered two handguns from the ambush site after the encounter.
In the Noida encounter, the STF shot dead Ashutosh Rai and Ajay Singh in an ambush near the expressway in Noida in 2010. Each of the two gangsters was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head. Police recovered a 9mm carbine and two pistols from the two gangsters.
Other incidents in which gallantry awards have been announced include the arrest of six criminals in Kavinagar area of Ghaziabad and an encounter in Varanasi in which listed historysheeter Satyendra Tewari, who was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, was gunned down. Tewari was reportedly wanted in more than 20 criminal cases including those of murder, kidnapping for ransom and extortion.
Apart from the gallantry awards, four police personnel will be awarded medals for distinguished services and 70 for meritorious services. As many as 25 other senior police officers and jawans will be presented with Commendation Discs as well.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / August 15th, 2015