Nagpur: Police Commemoration Day 2018- In memory of those who gave the supreme sacrifice in the service of India was held today on Oct 21 at Police line Takli Parade ground in Nagpur.
Honouring the memory of our valiant police martyrs
Every year on October 21, the nation remembers the sacrifice of 10 police personnel who laid down their lives defending the integrity of our motherland at Hot Springs in Ladakh. These men were killed in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops that had violated Indian territory in Aksai Chin.
Since mid-1959, the frontier had suddenly become active due to transgressions by Chinese troops. On October 21, a police party led by Karam Singh, a deputy central intelligence officer, was ambushed by Chinese troops equipped with automatic weapons and mortars. Indian policemen, who were armed only with rifles, held their ground till they were overpowered by the hostile force, resulting in the death of 10 and capture of nine.
The entire nation mourned the martyrdom of these policemen, who were the victims of an unequal encounter with Chinese troops on Indian territory. The bodies were handed over by the Chinese on November 13 and were cremated at Hot Springs at 8am the next day. Police forces assembled at every district headquarters across the country in ceremonial parades to mourn the sacrifice of these valiant soldiers.
It was in 1960 that the heads of all of India’s police organisations decided that every year, October 21 would be observed as Police Commemoration Day throughout the country.
This year, the Prime Minister will dedicate a national police memorial at Chanakya Puri, New Delhi, to the memory of all such policemen who laid down their lives at the altar of duty. Goa Police too, has been serving the people of the state selflessly and unflinchingly.
In light of this, it would be a fitting tribute to honour our own heroes on Police Commemoration Day, namely late head constable Balaram B Shinde, and late police sub-inspector Abhishek Sher-Ali Parvez Gomes.
Shinde was born in Sarawali, a small village in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district. After obtaining his secondary school certificate in 1969, he was recruited as a constable in the Goa Police. He was promoted to head constable in 1985 and went on to serve at all the state’s important police stations. In 1999, Shinde was assigned to the police outpost at Cortalim. This was during the course of an agitation by a few citizens against the upcoming Meta Strips factory at Sancoale.
Although he had the confidence of the people and was capable of handling them, it was at around 4pm on March 4, 2000, that a mob circled the Cortalim police outpost and locked a few of his colleagues into one of the rooms. Shinde, who was on duty at the time, resisted the mob and tried his best to pacify them. The mob, however, assaulted him and inflicted life-threatening injuries that rendered him unconscious.
A few well-wishers came to his aid and informed senior police officers of the incident. The valiant officer was immediately moved to the GMC, Bambolim, where he remained in a coma till he breathed his last on April 23. Gomes, a resident of Margao, was directly recruited as a sub-inspector of the Goa Police on September 7, 2006. When he and constable Maruti Dhupwadkar were on traffic duty in Ponda on the morning of March 16, 2013, they noticed a speeding truck approaching Amigos Junction in Curti, and signalled it to stop. The truck driver, however, continued to speed towards Borim, nearly knocking down the sub-inspector.
With his suspicions raised, Gomes jumped onto his official motorcycle and proceeded to chase down the truck. Soon enough, he managed to overtake the vehicle and once again signalled to the driver to stop. The driver still refused to pay heed, and knocked down Gomes and his motorcycle instead.
The sub-inspector was dragged for about 20 metres from the spot of the collision, sustaining grievous injuries, including a mangled leg. He was rushed to a hospital in Ponda and then shifted to the GMC, Bambolim, where he succumbed to his injuries. It was clear that Gomes was killed intentionally while discharging his duties.
The Goa Police will remember these two brave sons of the soil during a homage parade at the police headquarters, Panaji, on Sunday. Both will be accorded a Guard of Honour in the presence of their families.
To learn more about the sacrifices made by various police personnel in the line of duty, I appeal to all the citizens of Goa to visit the website of the Indian Police www.police.gov.in that was launched by the Prime Minister in December, 2015 The writer is the director general of police, Goa.
