New Delhi, Oct 31: The Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak for 2025 has been awarded to 1,466 police personnel nationwide, which includes 40 Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF personnel who were instrumental in the killing of terrorists involved in the Pahalgham incident.
Inspector General (Kashmir range) V K Birdi and Senior Superintendent of Police (Srinagar) G V Sundeep Chakraborty were among 19 officers from Jammu and Kashmir who have been awarded the medal for Operation Mahadev, in which terrorists behind the audacious Pahalgam attack were eliminated.
Sulieman alias Asif, who is believed to be the mastermind of the April 22 attack, was killed after security forces launched a surprise action, codenamed ‘Operation Mahadev’, following a technical signal indicating satellite phone use by the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack.
The other terrorists identified as Jibran — who was allegedly involved in the Sonamarg Tunnel attack last year — and Hamza Afghani were also eliminated during the operation.
Personnel from the 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 Para unit located the group of terrorists and neutralised them after a “long-drawn operation”.
As many as 26 persons — mostly tourists — were shot dead by terrorists at Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam on April 22, which prompted the armed forces to launch ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7 against terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
Apart from IG Birdi and SSP Chakraborty, a DIG, two SPs, three DySPs, two sub-inspectors, two ASIs, two head constables and four constables received the medals.
In the CRPF, one assistant commandant was among 21 personnel honoured with the medal.
“Initiated under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah, ‘Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak’ will boost the morale of all police personnel,” an official statement said.
The medals are given in recognition of their excellent work, high professional standards, and to boost the morale of the concerned official/officer in four fields — special operations, investigation, intelligence and forensic science, according to an official statement.
The medals, instituted on February 1, 2024, are conferred on members of police forces, security organisations, intelligence wings, special branches of state and Union territories, Central Armed Police Forces, Central Police Organisations and forensic science departments across the country.
The medal is announced on October 31 every year, on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary, it said. (PTI)
