Republic Day: 777 personnel awarded police medals, 100 for gallantry

New Delhi: A total of 777 police and paramilitary personnel have been awarded police medals while 100 have been decorated for gallantry, led by Jammu and Kashmir police, on the occasion of Republic Day.

The gallantry tally is led by Jammu and Kashmir Police with 32 Police Medals for Gallantry (PMG) followed by the country's largest paramilitary CRPF with 16 medals, Andhra Pradesh 12, the Border Security Force five medals, Chhattisgarh seven and one to Sashastra Seema Bal.

Out of the 100 bravery medals, ten have been decorated posthumously, with Manipur Police Inspector P Sanjoy Singh getting it for a record eighth time. Interestingly, there have been no Presidents Police Medals for Gallantry (PPMG) awarded this year.

While the Jammu and Kashmir police got a majority of these decorations for counter-insurgency operations in the state, the Central Reserve Police Force got them for undertaking dare-devil exploits in anti-Naxal operations in Left Wing Extremism affected states.

As per an official statement, personnel of Manipur and Assam police have been decorated with four gallantry medals each, Jharkhand nine and Uttar Pradesh got seven.

"777 personnel have been awarded police medals on the occasion of the Republic Day this year. Police Medals for Gallantry (PMG) have been awarded to 100 personnel, President's Police Medals for Distinguished Service to 80 personnel and Police Medal for Meritorious Service to 597 personnel," the statement said.