42 Jammu and Kashmir policemen killed in past one year

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid, said on Saturday that as many as 1,622 police personnel laid down their lives during the 28-year-old turmoil in the State.

He said of these 42 including a deputy superintendent were killed in the counterinsurgency operations and militants attacks during the past one year. He said, “42 J&K police personnel laid down their lives while fighting militants and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir from September 2015 to August 2016.”

He said that among the 1,622 slain police personnel were one Deputy Inspector General (DIG), one Superintendent of Police (SP), 20 Deputy SPs, 24 Inspectors, 34 Sub Inspectors (SI), 63 Assistant SI and 142 head constables.

Meanwhile, Director Intelligence Bureau (IB), Rajiv Jain, has said that as many as 383 police personnel, including 56 belonging to the BSF and 42 from the Jammu and Kashmir, have laid down their lives in the line of duty in last one year.

Addressing the Police Commemoration Day, where Home Minister Rajnath Singh led the nation in paying tribute to those killed, Jain said the 383 police personnel were killed while performing various duties across the country from September 2016 to August 2017.

Among these police personnel, 76 belonged to the Uttar Pradesh Police, 56 belonged to the BSF, 49 were from the CRPF, 42 from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, 23 belonged to Chhattisgarh, 16 were from West Bengal, 13 each belonged to Delhi and the CISF, 12 each were from Bihar and Karnataka and 11 from the ITBP.

Majority of the police personnel died while dealing with cross-border firing from Pakistan, fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxals and other law and order duties, he said.

The day is observed to pay homage to 10 policemen killed in firing by Chinese troops in 1959 and 34,400 others who laid down their lives protecting India’s unity and integrity.