19 from Karnataka among 926 chosen for police medal

Over 900 police personnel were on Friday chosen for the prestigious Police Medal for Gallantry, President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and Police Medal for Meritorious Service on the eve of Independence Day

CRPF with 118 police personnel, Uttar Pradesh Police with 102 and Jammu Kashmir (94) topped the medal tally, with Karnataka personnel bagging 19 medals, including Assistant Sub Inspector with Bengaluru CID Prasanna Kumar Lakshminarasimha bagging the President's Medal for Distinguished Service. Eighteen other personnel from Karnataka Police won the Police Medal for Meritorious Service while none won the Police Medal for Gallantry.

Overall, 926 police personnel won the medals -- 215 for Gallantry, 80 for Distinguished Service and 631 for Meritorious Service.

Among the Police Medal for Gallantry, Jammu and Kashmir Police had the highest number at 81, including Deputy Inspector General Atul Kumar Goel who arrested former DySP Devender Singh while allegedly ferrying Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, followed by CRPF (51).

Four Jammu and Kashmir police personnel Syed Javeed Ahmad (DySP), Tabraiz Ahmed (Sub Inspector), Muneer Ahmad Bhat (Head Constable) and Ayaz Ahmad Katoch (Cadet) were chosen for the gallantry medal for killing six terrorists in an operation in Baramullah on 27 May, 2017.

One of the gallantry medal winners is Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was killed in an encounter with Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Batla House in 2008. This is Sharma's seventh gallantry medal.

Police Personnel who were chosen for Police Medal for Meritorious Service from Karnataka included Deputy Superintendents of Police Hemanth Kumar Rangappa (SIT, Lokayukta), Parameshwar Hegde (Economic Offences, CID), Manjunath Rajanna (ACB, Mandya), Shailendra Muthanna Haraga (Somawarpet), Ramesh Kumar Byrappa Hiriyuru (State Intelligence), Umesh Panithadka (Police Training School, Mysuru) and Assistant Commissioner of Police Satish Mahalingaiah Honnenhalli (Traffic, Bengaluru).

Others are: Inspector Diwakara Channapatna Narasimha Jettappa (Madikeri Rural), Sub Inspectors Lakshmi Narayana Anantharaman Beechanahalli (Special Branch, Bengaluru), Mahabeshwar Chandekar Hema (Special Reserve Police, Bengaluru) and K Jayaprakash (Mangaluru City Control Room), Assistant Sub Inspectors Hanumanthappa Nanjudaiah (DCRB, Chikkaballapura), K Ateeq-ur-Rahman (Finger Print Unit, Shivamogga), Ramanjanaiah (Tumkuru) and Rudrappa Nagappa Balikai (Haveri) and Civil Head Constable Honappa Kariyappa (Bengaluru).