Eighteen Delhi Police personnel are set to receive the President’s Police Medal on Independence Day, as announced by officials on Wednesday.
Of these, two officers will be honoured with the medal for distinguished service, while the remaining 16 will receive it for meritorious service on Independence Day.
Joint Commissioner of Police Atmaram Vasudeo Deshpande and retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Shashi Bala will be awarded the medal for distinguished service.
The medal for meritorious service will be presented to Joint Commissioner of Police Suman Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajneesh Garg, ACPs Satyapal Singh, Renu Lata, Niraj Tokas, Arvind Kumar, and Dinesh Chander Pundora, as well as inspectors Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Devender Kumar, Rakesh Singh Rana, Satender Poonia, Sub-Inspector Shahjehan S, assistant-sub inspectors Surender Singh and Virender Singh, along with two officers from the Mounted Police unit, SI Suresh Kumar and ASI Hansraj, according to the officials.
Deshpande began his career with the Goa Police Service in 1998 as a deputy superintendent of police, recruited through the Goa Public Service Commission, and was inducted into the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 2011. He received the Goa Chief Minister’s Gold Medal (Police) for meritorious service in 2011 on Independence Day.
In 2013, Deshpande was awarded the President’s Police Medal for meritorious service on Independence Day, and in 2017, he also received the DGP’s insignia for outstanding performance in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as stated by the Delhi Police.
Bala joined the Delhi Police as a constable in 1985 and was promoted to SI in 1988 through a competitive exam. She retired in July. During her tenure as an inspector, she investigated various cases, including those involving rape and matrimonial disputes. Bala is also recognised for training around 30,000 school children in self-defence techniques in the New Delhi district, according to the police.
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Goyal, during her time as DCP of South West district, effectively utilized information technology (IT) tools to monitor areas of concern for women’s safety and collaborated with local travel agencies to introduce pink cabs driven by women.
As an additional commissioner of police in the Central range, Goyal initiated Project Udaan in the North district, aimed at empowering women officers at the grassroots level, according to the police.
ACP Satyapal Singh contributed to various research studies conducted by the Delhi Police and supervised the management of the force’s crime data for meetings with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), lieutenant governor (LG), DGsP, IGsP conferences, Parliament inquiries, Northern Zone Council, and interstate coordination meetings.
ACP Arvind Kumar played a crucial role in solving the bomb-blast cases at Satyam-Liberty cinema hall and Sarojini Nagar market, dismantling fake currency, illegal firearms, and drug syndicates, and capturing highway robbers with a recovery exceeding Rs 2 crore.
While serving with the Special Cell, Inspector Devender Kumar tracked down numerous notorious criminals, gangsters, and terrorists, and was instrumental in solving the Delhi High Court bomb-blast case. His bravery led to the capture of Sher Singh Rana and Thakur Brijesh Singh (“Poorvanchal Don”), who had a Rs 9 lakh bounty placed by various state police forces.
Inspector Rakesh Rana was involved in investigating several significant cases, including a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) case against gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates, and the Israeli embassy blast case. He was also part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case.
SI Shajehan S was assigned to solve several high-profile cases, including the Satyam-Liberty bomb blast and Batla House encounter cases, during his posting at the Special Cell.
Surender Singh played a key role in investigating cases such as the murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, an attack on a jail van in a Jhajjar case, and the Narayan Sai case. He was responsible for arresting several notorious gangsters, including Anil alias Leela, Manoj Sehrawat, Vimanshu Sharma alias Happy, and Satyanand — all members of the Naveen Khati gang. Additionally, he dismantled a gang of fake call centre operators following complaints from the FBI. (With inputs from PTI)
