New Delhi: The Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who led the operation that eliminated Maoist supreme commander Basavaraju is among the gallantry award winners from the Chhattisgarh Police, which secured 141 awards—the highest-ever tally by a state police or security organisation.
Robinson Guria, Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations) in Narayanpur district, planned the key operation alongwith Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhat Kumar, who was police chief in the district.
Two of his IPS batchmates—Smruthik Rajnala and Sandeep Patel—are also in the list of awardees, Both of them were at similar ranks in Dantewada and Kanker, respectively.
Former Kanker SP Indira Kalyan Elesela and former Bastar range IG Sundarraj Pattilingam were also handed the Gallantry Medal in recognition of their role in checking the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) in Chhattisgarh.
Sundarraj, the longest-serving IPS officer in Chhattisgarh’s LWE stronghold Bastar, is now with the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The 2003 batch IPS officer served more than consecutive six years in Bastar.
The development coincides with the emphasis of the Narendra Modi government on ending the LWE in the country. During his speech from the Red Fort, PM Narendra Modi said that his government had taken a pledge in 2014 after storming to power at the centre that the LWE will be wiped out from the country.
“Beloved countrymen, it is very necessary to end the decades-old challenges in the 21st century. “Naxalism-Maoism has destroyed the future of lakhs of youth and has stolen young children from so many mothers,” Modi said during his speech on Independence Day on Saturday.
“This Naxalism had a stranglehold over a large population for four decades at gunpoint. They had destroyed the essence of the Constitution.”
He said that more than 3,500 security personnel had died to ensure the security of the people, which, he said, outnumber the number of soldiers killed in wars.
“We had taken a pledge on the very day you gave us a chance in 2014 that we shall crush Naxalwad. Today, I am pleased to say that Naxalism does not have even one last breath remaining in it and it has been crushed completely. The tricolour of development, belief and efforts are fluttering in the areas where Maoists’ guns used to rule,” Modi added.
Overall, the Chhattisgarh Police secured as many as 141 gallantry medals, the highest ever, out of a total of 301 medals shortlisted by the President.
Of the 141 gallantry medals to the Chhattisgarh Police, 38 of them went to constables of Bastar Fighters, a specialised force recruited by the state government to boost the manpower of the District Reserve Guards for the operations and area domination in the stronghold of the Maoists in Bastar districts.
“Among the majority of the 301 Gallantry Awards, 197 personnel from Left Wing Extremism affected areas, 51 personnel from Jammu & Kashmir region, 12 personnel from North-East and 41 personnel from other regions are being awarded for their gallant action,” the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement Saturday.
The number of gallantry medals is exponentially higher than last year’s 24 given to the Chhattisgarh Police, marking a shift from the usual pattern of those serving in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) accounting for the higher numbers. The J&K Police and the CRPF received 38 and 20 gallantry medals, respectively.
The CRPF acts as the principal national force deployed to combat LWE in the country, with specialised unit like Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) to conduct guerrilla and jungle warfare operations primarily targeting the Maoist insurgency.
Apart from the officers and personnel in Bastar, the President also conferred the gallantry Medal upon Maharashtra cadre IPS officer Yatish Deshmukh, who served as additional SP for operations in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
Deshmukh was credited for executing several anti-Naxal operations along with Neelotpal, who served as the Gadchiroli district police chief until recently. Gadchiroli was considered as the last remaining stronghold of Maoists in Maharashtra.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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