Opinion Amidst celebration of Maoists’ surrender, let’s not forget the sacrifice of our police personnel

Giripunje’s name figures among 191 police martyrs whose names will be read out at the police commemoration day parades that will be held in all police establishments including the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) across the country today. BSF lost the most personnel — 23 — in various operations while Chhattisgarh lost 16 of its personnel in encounters and IED blasts during the year, until August 31. Two Deputy Superintendents of Police — J Shanta Rao and M Chakradhara Rao — who lost their lives in an accident in Yadadri district of Telangana on July 26 on their way from Vijayawada to Hyderabad where they had to investigate a case, also figure among the five martyrs of Andhra Pradesh.

Fourteen policemen of Jammu and Kashmir sacrificed their lives while combating terrorism in the state and 12 in West Bengal were martyred while maintaining law and order. For the first time in the last two decades, the martyrs figure of CRPF has come down to a single digit figure: Nine. Among the nine is Second in Command Maharabam Prabo who was struck by lightning during a search operation in Saranda forests of West Singhbhum district on May 15. Sub Inspector Sunil Kumar Mandal too was martyred in Saranda forests in an IED blast on March 22. With the Maoist menace on the wane, casualties will further abate though there will be no letup in pursuing terrorists and Maoists across the country.

Operating under arduous situations in hostile terrain, the policemen were able to succeed in their objective of putting an end to the menace which had stalled development in the backward regions. In the last two decades, 9,591 police personnel sacrificed their lives at the altar of duty.
In 2010, the number of policemen killed on duty was as high as 786. With change in strategy and induction of CAPF battalions in the Maoist-affected states, casualties of police personnel declined to 264 in 2022 and further down to 189 in 2023, though it shot up marginally to 214 last year.

Notably, the police commemoration day is observed across the country in memory of 10 CRP personnel who challenged the Chinese intruders near Hot Springs in Ladakh on October 21, 1959 and took them on before sacrificing their lives. At a forbidding height of over 4,700 metres, the Indo-China border is guarded by personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police from a post in Hot Springs.

To pay homage to police personnel who sacrifice their lives in the line of duty, a police contingent composed of police personnel from all states and the CAPFs visit the ITBP post at Hot Springs every year. On the memorial erected there, which stands as a mute testimony to the sacrifices of policemen, is engraved the famous epitaph of John Maxwell Edmunds which reads: “When you go home, tell them of us, for their tomorrow, we gave our today.” As the contingent salutes in unison in that hostile terrain under extreme cold weather, one is reminded of the sacrifices made by police personnel across the country for the integrity and security of the nation.

Despite the onerous tasks performed by policemen, they are a neglected lot. Promotions come their way after years of slogging and mental stress. During a health check-up of Delhi policemen a few years back, it was noticed that 30 per cent of them suffered from varicose veins as they are on their feet for several hours in the day. Poor living conditions with inadequate minimal facilities add to their woes. Over worked and mentally stressed, some of them even resort to suicide. They definitely deserve a better deal.

The writer retired as inspector general of police, CRPF