THE AWARDS RAIN Shaurya Chakra for Major Aditya, Aurengzeb

J&K Ops fetch Army, Para Military string of awards

Major Aditya Kumar, who was embroiled in a controversy after his unit fired on a stone-pelting mob in South Kashmir's Shopian in January leading to death of three persons and Rifleman Aurangzeb, who was brutally killed by terrorists in Pulwama in June when he was on his way home for Eid are among the 20 armed forces personnel named for the Shaurya Chakra award-the third highest gallantry award.

Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh has been named for the Kirti Chakra award posthumously. He was killed in an anti-terror operation in November 2017 in Algar village in South Kashmir.

A number of Army personnel who showed bravery and made sacrifices in anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir figured in the list of gallantry awardees.

Daredevilry in counter-militancy operations in the Kashmir Valley, including the Lethpora and Sumbal camp attacks, earned the CRPF the highest number of five Shaurya Chakras.

Head constable A S Krishna, constables K Dinesh Raja and Prafulla Kumar of the 45th battalion of the force were decorated with the Shaurya Chakra for their gallant act of thwarting a suicide attack on their camp in Sumbal in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district on June 5 last year.

As the troops were alert and prepared, the CRPF team eliminated the four terrorists and finished the operation in quick 45 minutes, the citation for the operation read.

Deputy Commandant K S Chahar and constable D Ravindra Baban (posthumously) of the 182nd battalion of the force won the military medal (Shaurya Chakra) for their brave act of thwarting a similar attack by three militants on the district police line camp in Pulwama on August 26 last year.

The encounter had gone on for 20 hours.

"Head constable Baban laid down his life for the cause of the nation in the treacherous gunfire," the citation said.

On selecting major Aditya for Shaurya Chakra, an official release said he is being awarded for "meticulous planning and gallant action" during an anti-terror operation in Budgam in Kashmir in November 2017.

The unit led by Major Aditya had opened fire on a group of stone-pelters in Shopian on January 27 following which the Jammu and Kashmir Police filed an FIR against the army personnel involved in the incident.

In February, the father of Major Aditya had moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the FIR. During hearing of the case, the Centre said the state government cannot lodge an FIR against serving army personnel when the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was in force in the state.

Rifleman Aurangzeb, who belonged to the 44 Rashtriya Rifles, was on way back home on June 14 to celebrate Eid when terrorists abducted him.

Hours later, his bullet-riddled body was found at Gussu village, about 10 km from Kalampora, in Pulwama district. His killing triggered widespread outrage in Kashmir.

The official release said Aurangzeb is being conferred the award for his bravery during an anti-terror operation in South Kashmir on November 6 last year.

Separately, a total of 96 Army personnel have been named for Sena medal. Twenty-six armymen were also selected for Mention-in-Despatches award.
The list of gallantry award winners was released by the defence ministry on the eve of the Independence Day. The awards were approved by President Ram Nath Kovind, in his capacity as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. No name for the Ashok Chakra, the highest gallantry award, was announced by the government.

Meanwhile, J&K Police bagged 47 awards among the Police Awards, second only to CRPF, which not only fetched the maximum awards across four categories, but has the distinction with only its personnel chosen amongst all the forces for the top notch President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) for dreaded terror attack on Lethpora on the new year eve 2018.

J&K Police personnel earned 37 Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG), 1 President’s Police Medal (PPM) for Distinguished Service and Police Medal (PM) for Meritorious Service.

The top notch President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) was given only to two personnel- Constable Sharief-ud-din Ganaie and Head Constable Mohd Tafail posthumously for displaying raw grit and courage during the December 30 last year suicide attack on their camp in Lethpora (Awantipora district), even as eight of their colleagues were decorated with the PMG for the same operation.

The midnight attack on the 131-acre camp, that had inadequate perimeter security owning to ongoing construction, went on for over 36 hours during which five men of the paramilitary force were killed.

"Operation Lethpora was one of the most daunting and challenging operations and it was replete with numerous challenges, including logistical constraints, the enormous and knotty terrain, including rescue of scores of trapped force personnel in the buildings and overcoming of the initial casualities," the citation said.

Three militants were killed at the end of the violent siege and a lethal cache of weapons and ammunition was recovered from them.

While Ganaie, who was one of the sentries of the camp, and Tafail laid down their lives in the line of duty, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) A S Negi, assistant commandants Naresh Kumar and L Ibomcha Singh, Assistant sub-inspector Uttam Raj and constables S Prakash, Jitendra Kumar, Budhi Singh and Zulfiqar Ahmed were also awarded for rendering their duty with courage.

Meanwhile, on the eve of Independence Day, the state government has announced Sher-i-Kashmir Police medal for gallantry and Meritorious Service. Of the 153 Police personnel who have been conferred with the Medals, six have been awarded with Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for Meritorious Service whereas 147 are conferred with Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry.

-------------------------
KIRTI CHAKRA
Vrahma Pal Singh
Sepoy (Posthumous)
SHAURYA CHAKRA
Aditya Kumar
Army Major
Aurangzab
Rifleman (Posthumous)
A S Krishna
CRPF Head Constable
K Dinesh Raja
CRPF Constable
Prafulla Kumar
CRPF Constable
Kuldeep Singh Chahar
CRPF Deputy Commandant
Dhanawade Ravindra Baban
CRPF Constable (Posthumous)
PRESIDENT’S POLICE MEDAL FOR GALLANTRY
Sharief-Ud-Din Ganaie
Constable (Posthumously)
Mohd Tafail
Head Constable (Posthumously)
POLICE MEDAL FOR GALLANTRY
Neeva Jain, IPS
Superintendent of Police
Nasir Ahmed
Addl Superintendent of Police
Kuljeet Singh
DY. Superintendent of Police
Sanjeev Singh Slathia
Inspector
Ashish Kumar Mishra, IPS
Addl. Superintendent of Police
Fayaz Hussain Shah
DY. Superintendent of Police
Ab. Rehman
Head Constable
Mohd. Hussain wani
Head Constable
Dawood Ayoub
Addl Superintendent of Police
Rayees Ahmad Bhat
Constable
Gawhar Ahmad Khan
Dy. Superintendent of Police
Irshad Ahmed Wani
Constable
Ajaz Ahmed
DY. Superintendent of Police
Bilal Ahmad Parray
SGCT
Javed Ahmad Khan
Constable
Ashaq Hussain Para
Inspector
Mohd. Iqbal
Sub Inspector
Syed Sajad Hussain
DY Superintendent of Police
Sandeep Bhat
DY. Superintendent of Police
Kuldeep Kumar Koul
Sub Inspector
Lakhbir Singh
Constable
Mir Murtaza Hussain Sohil
DY. Superintendent of Police
Rashid Akber Makayee
DY. Superintendent of Police
Aijaz Ahmad Bhat
Constable
Altaf Nazir Shah
Constable
Harmeet Singh
Superintendent of Police
Zia –Ur-Rehman
Sub Inspector
Sajad Ahmed Khan
SGCT
Dawood Ahmed Bhat
Constable
Shahnawaz Ahmad Paday
Asst. Sub Inspector
Farooq Ahmad Dar
Head Constable
Nisar Ahmad
Constable
Dawood Ayoub
Asst. Superintendent of police
Gurdeep Singh
Inspector
Nisar Ahmad Dar
Head Constable
Farooq Ahmad Mantoo
Head Constable
Reyaz Ahmad
SGCT
PRESIDENT'S POLICE MEDAL FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
Bhawani Singh
DYSP
POLICE MEDAL FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE
Bushan Kumar Ganjoo
DYSP
Dinesh Sharma
Inspector
Rajesh Anand
Inspector
Jagdev Singh
Head Constable
Ahmad Feroz
Head Constable
Mohd Yousuf Khan
Head Constable
Ashok Kumar Raina
Head Constable
Mohd Taj
SG Constable
Abdul Hamid Beigh
Constable
Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for Meritorious Service
Shafqat Ali Watali, IPS
IGP Armed/IRP Kashmir
Yougal Kumar Manhas
Superintendent of Police
Aijaz Ahmed Bhat
Dy Superintendent of Police
Shashi Kumar
Inspector
Mubashir Ahmad Shah
Sub Inspector
Manzoor Ahmad Wani
SGCT
Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry
Deepak Kumar Slathia, IPS
DIG
Shriram Dinkar Ambarkar, IPS
Imtiyaz Hussain Mir
SSP
Shamshir Hussain
Harmeet Singh
SSP
Ghulam Jeelani Wani
SSP
Gurinderpal Singh, IPS
SP
Chandan Kohli, IPS
ASP
Romesh Chander Kotwal
SP
Mubbasher Hussain
SP
Shafkat Hussain
ASP
Mohd Yousif
ASP
Master Popsy
ASP
Manzoor Ahmad
DySP (OPS)
Shafat Mohammad Najar
DySP (OPS)
Abdul Ghafoor
DySP
Nisar Ahmed Khan
DySP
Dr. Ruhail Mircha
DySP
Sourabh Prashar
DySP
Aijaz Ahmad Mir
DySP
Ashiq Hussain Tak
DySP
Wajahat Hussain
DySP
Mohd Idress Wani
Dy.SP
Sayed Zaheer Abbas Jafari, DySP
Gh. Mohd Bhat, Dy.SP
Tanweer Ahmad Dar, Dy.SP
Ajaz Ahmed, Dy.SP
Fayaz Hussain Shah, Dy.SP
Parupkar Singh, Dy.SP
Saleem Jahangir, Dy.SP
Aftab Hussain Shah, Dy.SP
Mir Burhan-ul-Haq Kanth, Dy.SP
Raiz Ahmed, Dy.SP
Nissar Ahmad, Dy.SP
Sachit Sharma, Dy.SP
Perwaiz Ahmad Dar, Dy.SP
Zaheer Abbas, Dy.SP (1st Bar to SKPMG), Mohd Shafiq, Dy.SP (1st Bar to SKPMG), Sahil Mahajan, Dy.SP, Devender Singh, Dy.SP, Gh. Mohd Rather, Inspr., Tanvir Ahmad Dar, Mehboob Hussain Banday, Inspr., Deepak Pathania, Inspr., Pankaj Sharma, Inspr. (1st Bar to SKPMG), Mohd Rouf Bazaz, Inspr., Manzoor Ahmad Khan, SI, Amjad Hussain Mir, SI, Muneer Ahmad Bhat, SI, Rishi Kumar, SI, Arif Hamid, SI, Harvinder Singh, SI, Tashi Gyalson, SI, Javaid Ahmad Dar, SI (1st Bar to SKPMG), Mohamad Irfan Malik SI, (1st Bar to SKPMG), Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir, SI, Rabinder Singh SI, Iftkar Hussain, SI Imtiyaz Mohammad, ASI, Mohd Rafi Malik, ASI (1st Bar to SKPMG), Karnail Singh ASI, Farooq Ahmad Mantoo, ASI (1st Bar to SKPMG), Shahnawaz Ahmad Paddy, ASI (1st Bar to SKPMG) Shabir Ahmad Sheikh, ASI, Ab. Ahad Baba, ASI, Selender Singh, ASI, Gh. Mohd Sheikh, ASI, Gulam Mohd Lone ASI, Rafiq Ahmad Mir, ASI, Mohd Ishtaq, ASI, Gurnam Singh, HC, Chail Singh, HC, Mohinder Singh, HC Mohd Rafiq Ganai, HC. Ashaq Hussain Lone, Abdul Khaliq War, HC, Firdoos Ahmad Joo, HC, Rakesh Bali, HC, Pervaz Ahmad Bhat, HC, Mohd Farooq, HC, Amerjeet Singh, HC, Mohd Amin , HC, Lateef Ahmad Ganie, HC, Kishanjeet Singh, HC, Mohd Latif, HC, Bilal Ahmad Parray, HC, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Irshad Ahmad, HC, Mumtaz Ahmad Daing, SGCt, Mohinder Singh, SGCt., Firdous Ahmad, SGCt., Hilal Ahmad Talie, SGCt., Nazir Ahmad Kohli, SGCt., Mohmmad Rameez Bhat, SGCt., Mohd Shafi Tantray, SGCt., Ashaq Ahmad Dar, SGCt., Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, SGCt., Ali Mohd Sofi, SGCt., Shameem Ahmad Khan, SGCt., Naseer Ahmad Lone, SGCt., Javaid Iqbal Ganie, SGCt., Khurshid Ahmad Dar, SGCt., Mohd Yaseen Dar, SGCt., Yash Paul, SGCt., Ankit Koul, SGCt., Ravees Ahmad, SGCt., Arshad Ahmad, SGCt., Akeel Ahmad Malik, SGCt., (1st Bar to SKPMG), Showket-ul-Islam, SGCt., Sajad Ahmad Khan, SGCt., Meyan Hamid Gojar, SGCt., Mohd Abass Khan, SGCt., Farooq Ahmad Khan, SGCt., Shabir Ahmad Wani, SGCt., Mukhtar Ahmad Bhat, SGCt., Amriz Ahmad Khan, SGCt., Mohd Shafi Bhat, SGCt., Naseer Ahmad, SGCt., Heemu Kumar, SGCt., Sunil Kumar, SGCt., Vinod Zutshi, SGCt., Mohd Alyass, SGCt., Firdous Ahmad Wani, SGCt., Amandeep Singh, SGCt., Tariq Ahmad Rather, SGCt., Murtaza Nazir, SGCt., Sartaj Ahmad, SGCt., Mohd Rafiq Tantray, Shahnawaz Ahmad Bhat, SGCt., Const., Mudassir Ahmad Yatoo, Const., Kaysar Ahmad Sheikh, Const., Mohd Ashraf Bhat, Const., Mukhtar Ahmad Khanday, Const., Tawseef Ahmad Sheikh, Const., Rayees Ahmad Bhat, Const., Farooq Ahmad Khan, Const, Fayaz Ahmad, Const., Bilal Ahmad Reshi, Const., Bilal Ahmad Waza Const., Iqbal Ahmad Const., Gurmukh Singh, Const., Mohd Altaf Baghat, Const., Shabir Ahmad Sohil, Follower (1st Bar to SKPMG), Shabir Ahmad, Follower, Rafiq Ahmad Peer, Follower, Ali Mohd Mir, Follower.