New Delhi, Aug 14: The government of India has conferred Shaurya Chakra, the third-highest gallantry award, on Major Aditya Kumar and Rifleman Aurangzeb for their “bravery”.
Major Aditya was named in the FIR filed by the Jammu and Kashmir police in the Shopian firing case. He lead a convoy that opened fire during a protest in Shopian in January killing three civilians.
The officer’s father Lt. Col Karamveer Singh had filed the petition to quash the Jammu and Kashmir police’s FIR. In March, the Supreme Court stayed all investigations into the Shopian stone-pelting case, observing that the Indian Army officer could not be treated as a normal criminal.
In July, the state government maintained before the top court that there could not be an “indefinite” stay on the probe.
Riflemen Aurangzeb Khan too was conferred with the gallantry award posthumously. He was abducted by militants from Pulwama district when he was on his way to him for Eid. Later, his body was found at Gusoo, Pulwama. Aurangzeb was part of the commando unit which killed Hizbul Mujahideen’s Sameer Tiger in an encounter in April. He was posted in Shopian district of South Kashmir.
The Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) constable Sharief-ud-Din Ganaie and Head Constable Mohammad Tafail, who lost their lives in 2017 while fighting militants in the Kashmir Valley, have been posthumously selected for the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG), the highest Police Medal.
A total of 942 central and state police personnel have been selected by the government for ‘Police Medals’ on the occasion of the 72nd Independence Day on Wednesday.
