As many as 383 police personnel from different State forces, Central paramilitary forces and Central police organisations were killed this year, Intelligence Bureau Director Rajiv Jain said on Saturday.
Of the personnel killed in the line of duty from September 2016 to August 2017 include 56 from the Border Security Force and 42 from the Jammu and Kashmir police, Mr. Jain said on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day.
Hot Springs
The day is observed every year on October 21 to commemorate the 10 police personnel who were killed in Hot Springs in Ladakh in 1959 by the Chinese troops and 34,400 others who laid down their lives protecting India’s unity and integrity.
Among these police personnel, 76 belonged to the Uttar Pradesh police, 49 from the Central Reserve Police Force, 23 belonged to the Chhattisgarh police, 16 were from the West Bengal police, 13 each belonged to the Delhi police and the Central Industrial Security Force, 12 each were from Bihar and Karnataka police and 11 from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
A majority of the personnel died while dealing with cross-border firing from Pakistan, fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxals and other law and order duties, a Home Ministry statement said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh attended the event at the National Police Memorial here.
The Indian police personnel were responsible for manning the 2,500 mile long border of India with Tibet until the autumn of 1959. On October 20, 1959, three reconnaissance parties were launched from Hot Springs in north-eastern Ladakh in preparation for further movement of an Indian expedition.
While members of two parties returned to Hot Springs, the third one comprising two police constables and a porter did not return, the statement said. The remaining forces were mobilised next morning in search of the missing personnel.
A party of about 20 police personnel led by Karam Singh, a Deputy Central Intelligence Officer (DCIO) rank officer, proceeded on horseback while others followed on foot in three sections. At mid-day, the Chinese Army personnel were seen on a hillock who opened fire and threw grenades at the Indian party.
