15 SSB personnel get gallantry medals for killing wanted Maoists

New Delhi : Fifteen SSB personnel who neutralised six ‘most wanted’ Naxalites in two operations in Bihar have been awarded the police medal for gallantry on the eve of the 75th Republic Day. The police medal has come to the paramilitary force that guards unfenced Indian frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan for the operations undertaken in February 2022 in Lakhisarai district and another in July 2020 inside the Valmiki Tiger Reserve. Some personnel who were involved in both the operations were given the bravery medal for each encounter.

The first operation, under the supervision of commandants Deepak Singh and M K Pandey, led to the killing of two “dreaded” Naxals at ‘Ghoghi Kodasi’ in Lathiya Kol forest area of Lakhisarai, the official citation said. Lakhisarai provides a corridor for movement of armed Naxal cadres towards Jharkhand.

The SSB teams, drawn from the 32nd and 35th battalions, along with a unit of the local police, were fired upon by the Maoists first when they were trekking through a narrow jungle pass between two hills. The gunfight lasted almost three hours and Commandant Singh prepared a well-coordinated plan, perfect execution, and exemplary cohesion at the time of crisis leading to the killing of two CPI (Maoists) cadres on the spot while a third, Arjun Koda, suffered bullet injuries and he surrendered before the security forces a few months after this operation, the citation said.