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

Police Martyrs' Day was observed at the martyrs' memorial at the Nagpur city police headquarters at 8 am on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The programme was organised jointly by the Nagpur city police commissionerate and other police units in the city. Tributes were paid to police personnel who gave their lives for the country's security, law and order, and public safety.

Justice Anil Kilor, administrative judge of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, was the chief guest. Nagpur Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police Navinchandra Reddy, Special Inspector General of Police of the State Reserve Police Force Nisar Tamboli and Nagpur Range Inspector General of Police Sandeep Patil were present.

Additional Commissioners of Police Vinita Sahu, Vasant Pardeshi and Rajendra Dabhade also attended. Nagpur Rural Superintendent of Police Harsh Poddar, Highway Police Superintendent Lohit Matani, State Reserve Police Force Group No. 4 Commandant Bachchan Singh, Railway Police Superintendent Mangesh Popat Shinde, Prison Police Superintendent Vaibhav Age and Wireless Department Superintendent of Police Sunil Sawant took part as well.

Among the deputy commissioners of police at the ceremony were Annapurna Singh, Rashmita Rao, Nityanand Jha, Mahek Swami, Aditya Mirkhelkar, Ramesh Dhumal, Dr Sandeep Pakhale and Rahul Makanikar. Nagpur Rural Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Maske, Prison Department Additional Superintendent of Police Deepa Age, all assistant commissioners of police, senior police inspectors from various police stations, retired police officers, police staff and members of the public were also present.

One contingent each from Nagpur city police, Nagpur district rural police, Nagpur railway police and State Reserve Police Force Group No. 4 took part in the salute parade. In all, 120 personnel from the four contingents gave the martyrs a salute with arms reversed. A police band contingent was also present. The parade was commanded by Vinod Tiwari, reserve police inspector at the Nagpur city police headquarters, while Assistant Commissioner of Police Narendra Hivre conducted the programme.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivprasad Parve and Police Inspector Arun Kshirsagar read out the names of 153 police officers and personnel who died in the line of duty across the country. Guests, senior officers, staff and citizens then paid tribute by laying wreaths and flowers at the memorial.

Police Commemoration Day is observed on October 21 every year. It is linked to the Hot Springs incident of 1959. On October 21, 1959, a party of 10 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel led by Sub-Inspector Karam Singh was patrolling the border in a very remote, high-altitude area of Ladakh. The altitude, difficult mountain paths and extremely low temperatures made the patrol hard.

During the patrol, the party noticed some suspicious activity. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the leader of the party signalled the men to take positions at a safe spot. Chinese troops then opened fire on the Indian police party with automatic weapons. The Indian personnel returned fire. The enemy troops were more numerous and the Indian side had limited weapons, but the men did not retreat and made the supreme sacrifice fighting.

The names recorded of those killed in the incident are Dharm Singh, Puran Singh, Narbu Lamba, Begrajmal, Makhanlal, Iman Singh, Teshring Bokhu, Narbu, Hangjit Subba and Shivnath 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 has been built at Hot Springs in their memory.

The memorial bears the inscription: "When you go home tell them of us for their tomorrow, we give up our today." It means that when you return home, tell people about us: for their better tomorrow, we sacrificed our today.

This year, 153 police officers and personnel died on duty across the country. On this day, police organisations across the country pay tribute to the martyrs, read out their names, give a salute with arms reversed and observe two minutes of silence. In Nagpur too, the officers and citizens present remembered the sacrifice of the martyrs and reaffirmed their commitment to the country's security and to serving the people.