Gallantry awards for ITPB personnel’s role in Afghanistan Attack

Three Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel hailing from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be awarded the President’s Police Gallantry medal for thwarting the suicide attack on the Indian consulate in Herat in Afghanistan on May 23.

Sources in the MHA revealed that Inspector Manjit Singh from Sonepat in Haryana, Constable Rakesh Kumar from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh and Constable Praveen Kumar from Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand were at the forefront in neutralising the suicide attack by the Taliban militia.

In what is touted as the fourth major fidayan attack on the Indian missions in recent times, four Tali ban suicide attackers tried to force entry into the Indian consulate at Herat at about 3.30am on May 23, by launching a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) over its wall. Preliminary inquiries suggest that the four suicide attackers were supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist outfit active in south Asia, operating primarily from Pakistan, sources in the MHA said.

Constables Rakesh and Praveen, who stood guard at the consulate’s entrance, returned the fire killing one of the attackers on the spot. Meanwhile, inspector Manjit also reached the spot and instructed the ITBP troops to neutralise the remaining three attackers. They were later killed in the exchange of fire between the two groups which lasted till noon.

Deputy commandant Vivek Kumar Pandey, spokesman of the ITBP, said the director general of police (DGP), ITBP, decided to recommend names of five personnel to the MHA for the medal. He added, “The DG has sought two more names from Herat, of the ITBP personnel who killed the attackers.”

CRPF bravehearts get Kirti, Shaurya chakra

NEW DELHI: Two bravehearts of CRPF, Bhrigunandan Chaudhary, constable of 205 CoBRA and P.R.Mishra, deputy commandant of 203 CoBRA were on Friday awarded the prestigious Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra respectively, by President Pranab Mukherjee in a ceremony organized at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Chaudhary was given the award posthumously. His mother Susheela received the medal on his behalf. Later in the day, the duo was felicitated by CRPF Dilip Trivedi.

Both were awarded the prestigious gallantry awards for showing exemplary courage while fighting Maoists in Bihar and Jharkhand. According to CRPF, constable Chaudhary was leading a group of CRPF men in Chakarbandha forest area of district Gaya (Bihar) on September 8, 2012. The group came under attack from Naxals and a gunbattle ensued. Naxals exploded an IED which critically injured Chaudhary's legs making him immobile. Chaudhary still dragged himself into a trench from where he kept firing until he bled to death.

He even assisted his fellow constable Daleep Singh by changing his gun's magazine and exhorted others to fight fearlessly.

Mishra, who won Shaurya Chakra for neutralising dreaded Naxal leader Jeetendra alias Jeetu, has received five gallantry awards already.

According to CRPF, a joint operation was launched by CRPF from September 6-12, 2012 to neutralise naxal groups congregated at Chatra and Gaya-Palamu trijunction. Mishra formed a core strike group and traversed through the hostile terrain in a pitch dark night with continuous rainfall. "With great risk to his life, Mishra crawled towards the target house. Despite being seriously injured he continued with the assault and as a result the heavily injured naxals had to flee leaving behind dead body of Jeetendra," said a senior CRPF officer.

CRPF is also doing a commendable job of ensuring peaceful elections in the country this year. To date 26 CRPF personnel have died while 37 have been injured during the elctions. In all, the force has recovered 134 IEDs, 60 arms, 548 ammunitions and 860kg of explosives in 53 encounters, till now in this election.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/CRPF-bravehearts-get-Kirti-Sharya-chakra/articleshow/34546445.cms