Nagpur police pay tribute to martyrs on Police Commemoration Day, 153 names read out

Police Commemoration Day was observed in Nagpur on Wednesday. At a programme held at the martyrs' memorial at the City Police Headquarters, tribute was paid to policemen who lost their lives in service of the country. Senior judicial and police officers, retired officers, personnel on duty and ordinary citizens gathered there. All remembered the courage, dedication and supreme sacrifice of those who died protecting the country and its people.

The programme was organised jointly by the Nagpur City Police Commissionerate and the city's other police units. The chief guest was Justice Anil Kilor, administrative judge of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court. Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangare Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police Navinchandra Reddy and other senior officers were present with him.

At the ceremony, the names of 153 police officers and personnel who died on duty across the country were read out. A total of 120 personnel from Nagpur City Police, Nagpur Rural Police, Railway Police and State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) Group 4 took part in the parade and saluted the martyrs. A police band was also present.

The parade was led by Vinod Tiwari, reserve police inspector at the Nagpur City Police Headquarters. The programme was conducted by Assistant Commissioner of Police Narendra Hivre. The names of the 153 martyrs from across the country were read out by Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivprasad Parve and Police Inspector Arun Kshirsagar. After the names were read, the chief guest, senior officers, policemen and citizens laid wreaths and flowers at the memorial. The mood was sombre, and people also remembered the burden borne by the martyrs' families.

The day is observed every year on October 21. It commemorates policemen who died in a clash with Chinese troops at Hot Springs in Ladakh in 1959. On October 21 that year, a 10-member Indian police patrol led by CRPF Sub-Inspector Karam Singh was on duty in the remote, high-altitude area, when it came up against the Chinese troops. Patrolling there was already hard because of the difficult terrain and severe cold.

The patrol came under fire from automatic weapons. Facing an adversary armed with heavy weapons, the Indian personnel showed remarkable courage in defending their position. Ten members of the patrol made the supreme sacrifice. The incident became an example of duty, bravery and devotion to the country.

The personnel who died included Dharam Singh, Puran Singh, Narbu Lamba, Beg Raj Mal, Makhan Lal, Iman Singh, Tshering Bokhu, Narbu, Hangjit Subba and Shiv Nath Pratap. Their mortal remains were handed over to India, and they were cremated with full state honours at Hot Springs on November 14, 1959. A memorial to them was later built there. It reads: "When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today." The message is a reminder that the security citizens enjoy is owed to personnel who place duty above their own lives.

Besides Justice Kilor and Police Commissioner Nangare Patil, Nisar Tamboli, Special Inspector General of Police, SRPF, and Sandeep Patil, Inspector General of Police, Nagpur Range, also attended. Additional Commissioners of Police Vinita Sahu, Vasant Pardeshi and Rajendra Dabhade, Nagpur Rural Superintendent of Police Harsh Poddar, Highway Police Superintendent Lohit Matani, SRPF Group 4 Commandant Bachchan Singh, Railway Police Superintendent Mangesh Popat Shinde, Prison Police Superintendent Vaibhav Age and Sunil Sawant of the Wireless and Signals department were also present.

Deputy Commissioners of Police Annapurna Singh, Rashmita Rao, Nityanand Jha, Mahek Swami, Aditya Mirkhelkar, Ramesh Dhumal, Dr Sandeep Pakhale and Rahul Makanikar also attended. Nagpur Rural Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Mhaske, Additional Superintendent of Police of the prison department Deepa Age, assistant commissioners, senior police inspectors from various police stations, retired officers, personnel and ordinary people joined the tribute.

Police Commemoration Day is not merely an annual ritual. It is a day to acknowledge the dangers police face in confronting criminals, preventing crime, maintaining law and order, reaching emergencies and protecting people in difficult and uncertain situations. Police officers and constables often work long hours, stay away from their families and perform duty in harsh conditions. At times an ordinary day's duty becomes their last. The ceremony ended with a resolve to uphold the values of the martyrs: courage, discipline, honesty and unwavering commitment to duty.