CRPF head constable late Kale Sunil Dattatraya has been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry, the highest award in this category, on the occasion of the Independence Day for his valiant action in Jammu and Kashmir, in which two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed in Pulwama in June 2020.
A total of 1,380 police personnel have been awarded the President's medals with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF once again bagging the highest number of honours for actions in counter insurgency operations across the country. As many as 630 medals are for gallantry while 750 are for distinguished and meritorious services by police personnel.
Of the 630 gallantry awards, two police personnel have got the President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG)—sub-inspector Amar Deep from J&K police and CRPF head constable Late Kale Sunil Dattatraya.
It was on June 23, 2020 when Dattatraya’s team, along with the squads of J&K Police and Rashtriya Rifles, went for a joint cordon and search operation at Bandzoo village in Pulwama after intelligence inputs of presence of terrorists in a cluster of 14-15 houses.
When the joint police team was reaching the spot, one terrorist armed with an AK47 rifle suddenly jumped out of a ground floor window and opened fire at them. Dattatraya was leading the team and without a second thought, he charged towards the same terrorist with his gun blazing. Without any tactical cover and under fire from the terrorist, Dattatraya did not relent and at very close range he neutralised the terrorist.
At that time, a second terrorist, jumped out of another window and Dattatraya confronted him also. Due to his intervention, the terrorist was forced to hide. But in close range skirmishes, he was hit by a bullet in the head. An injured Dattatraya prevented him from escaping and attained martyrdom in the operation in which two hardcore terrorists Aijaz Ahmad Ganie and Owais Ahmad from Hizbul Mujahideen were killed.
The gallatary awards of J&K police and CRPF include 398 personnel for action in Jammu and Kashmir, 155 personnel for LWE opearations and 27 for counter insurgency operations in Northeast. Among the personnel receiving gallatary awards, 256 personnel belong to J&K police, 151 CRPF, 23 from ITBP, 67 from Odisha police, 25 from Maharashtra and 20 from Chattisgarh.