Police officers and National Security Guard commandos who battled terrorists in Mumbai have swept the national gallantry awards that will be conferred on Republic Day six have been named for the Ashoka Chakra,the highest peacetime gallantry award,and five for the Kirti Chakra. Delhi police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma,who died fighting terrorists in the Batla House operations in September last year,will also be awarded the Ashoka Chakra posthumously. For the first time,the gallantry awards list includes 11 Ashoka Chakra,an unprecedented 13 Kirti Chakra and 31 Shaurya Chakra winners. The duration of the Republic Day parade has been adjusted to give the President extra time to confer the gallantry awards. Seven police officers and four Army personnel will be honoured with the Ashoka Chakra. In the last ten years,only six personnel from the police and paramilitary forces were conferred the Ashoka Chakra which is essentially a military award. Hemant Karkare,Ashok Kamte,Vijay Salaskar, Tukaram Omble,Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havildar Gajender Singh will be awarded the Ashoka Chakra posthumously for the gallantry shown in Mumbai. Sapper V Sathish of the NSG,police constables Arun Chitte,Ambadas Powar and Inspector Shashank Shinde of the Maharashtra police besides Home Guard Mukesh Jadhav have been named for the Kirti Chakra. The citation for NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan says he led the operation to clear the Taj Hotel and rescued 14 hostages. During the operation,his team came under heavy fire and one of his team members was seriously injured. Major Sandeep pinned down the terrorists with accurate fire and rescued the injured commando to safety. In the process,he was shot in his right arm. Despite his injuries,he continued to fight the terrorists till his last breath, it says. The other NSG Commando,Havildar Gajender Singh,was leading his squad to rescue hostages from Nariman House and cleared the top floor before proceeding deeper into the building. As he closed in,the terrorists hurled a grenade injuring him. Undeterred,he kept firing and closing in on the terrorists by exposing himself to the hostile fire. In the act,he injured one of the terrorists and forced the others to retreat inside a room, the citation says,adding that he continued the encounter till he succumbed to his injuries. ASI Tukaram Gopal Omble was awarded the Ashoka Chakra as he showed raw grit and unparalleled courage while fighting terrorists. The citation says that immediately after hearing a wireless message that two terrorist were moving towards Marine Drive in a car,he positioned barricades to block the passage. As soon the car stopped,one of the terrorists inside the car opened fire. Shri Omble in a daring act rushed to the left side of the car and pounced on one of the terrorists in order to snatch his AK 47 rifle. In the process he got seriously injured and later succumbed to his injuries, it says. Citations for the three top police officers who were killed at the encounter near Cama Hospital during the attack are almost identical. It says that the three officers were part of a police team that rushed to Cama Hospital. A firefight ensued between the terrorist and the police team. As a result,the terrorists were forced to change their position. The police team pursued the terrorists but in the process their jeep got ambushed and Kamte,Karkare and Salaskar were critically injured. The citations go on to say they continued the fight and played a key role in injuring one of the terrorists. However,for Karkare,the citation adds that he had earlier dispatched teams to plug the possible escape routes and himself along with a small team rushed to Cama Hospital. Others who will be conferred the Ashoka Chakra posthumously during the Republic Day parade are: • Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma (Delhi Police): The Inspector received specific information that a suspected person wanted in connection with the serial bomb blasts in Delhi was hiding in a flat in Batla House area of Jamia Nagar,New Delhi. He led a seven member team to the flat but as soon as he entered,he received the first burst of fire from the terrorists. Undaunted,he returned the fire. In the ensuing exchange of fire,two terrorists were killed and one captured. • Colonel Jojan Thomas (Jat Regiment/45 RR): In August last year,Col Thomas led a firefight against a group of terrorists in Kashmir. The officer eliminated two terrorists from close quarters but sustained severe gunshot wounds in the process. However,he continued and engaged the third terrorist in a hand-to-hand fight before eliminating him. • Havildar Bahadur Singh Bohra (10 Parachute Regiment): He was the squad commander of an assault team deployed for a search operation in Lawanz area of Jammu and Kashmir that came under fire from a group of terrorists. Undaunted,he charged at the terrorists and killed one of them. However,he suffered severe gunshot wounds. Refusing evacuation,he continued with the assault and killed two more terrorists at extremely close range. • Assistant Commandant Pramod Kumar Satapathy (Orissa Police): The training-in-charge of the Special Operation Group at Chandaka,Orissa rushed with 20 available men on motorcycles and engaged 200-300 Naxalites near Bhubaneswar. • DSP R P Diengdoh (Meghalaya Police): Died while leading an operation against militants in a camp deep in the jungle of Meghalaya. He shot dead one militant despite being injured and managed to capture two more before succumbing to injuries.
