Police Commemoration Day: India Honours 154 Personnel Who Died on Duty Over Past Year
India remembered police personnel who died in the line of duty on Wednesday, with Intelligence Bureau Director Dr Mahesh Dixit paying tribute to 154 personnel who lost their lives over the past year.
Addressing the Police Commemoration Day ceremony at the National Police Memorial in New Delhi, Dixit said 36,852 police personnel had made the ultimate sacrifice since Independence while protecting citizens and safeguarding the country’s unity and integrity.
“Today, on Police Commemoration Day, we have gathered at the National Police Memorial to pay tribute to those brave police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty over the past year,” he said.
REMEMBERING THE 1959 SACRIFICE
Dixit recalled the origins of the annual observance, which commemorates the deaths of 10 CRPF personnel in an encounter with Chinese troops at Hot Springs in Ladakh on October 21, 1959.
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He said the personnel were led by Karam Singh, an Intelligence Bureau officer. Their sacrifice is remembered each year through ceremonies across state capitals, districts and police stations.
The national ceremony featured a joint commemorative parade involving personnel from the BSF, CISF, CRPF, ITBP, SSB, NSG, Assam Rifles, RPF, NDRF and Delhi Police.
Central Armed Police Forces will organise further commemorative events at the memorial from October 22 to 30, with families of fallen personnel also participating.
Dixit said these programmes followed recommendations made by the Prime Minister at the 2019 Conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police.
PM MODI PAYS TRIBUTE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also honoured police personnel, highlighting their work in maintaining law and order, combating crime and responding to emergencies.
“Police Commemoration Day is an occasion to express our deepest gratitude to our police personnel, who serve with remarkable commitment, often in the most challenging circumstances,” he wrote on X.
Paying tribute to those who died on duty, Modi said their courage, dedication and sacrifice would remain part of the nation’s memory.
With inputs from ANI