14 Delhi Police personnel get Special Medal for operations against IS, others

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) As many as 14 Delhi police personnel have been awarded the 'Union Home Minister's Special Operation Medal' for extraordinary services during operations against an Islamic State module, Pro-Khalistan radicals and Narco-terrorism.

The awards which were announced on 'National Unity Day' by the Ministry of Home Affairs have been conferred on security forces for carrying out special operations against terrorism, border action, and for arms control, prevention of narcotics smuggling and rescue operations. Six officers of the Delhi police Special Cell -- Inspector Sanjay Gupta, Inspector Rajesh Kumar, ASI Ashok Kumar, HC Gaurav, Constables Asif and Saurabh -- have been conferred the special award for displaying indomitable courage during an operation in South Delhi.

On March 8, 2020, the Special Cell busted a module of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province with a pan India network. They apprehended a couple Jahanzaib Sami and his wife Hina Basir Beig from Jamia Nagar, Okhla Vihar in Delhi, and recovered incriminating material including electronic devices. Based on their interrogation one more associate, Abdulla Basith, a hard-core operative of the ISKP was arrested from Tihar Jail. Abdulla Basith was lodged in Tihar Jail in different terror cases and was operating from there.

On extraction of data from the seized electronic devices, it was found that this module was planning blasts and terror operations in India, as per an official statement.

Due to the pan India ramifications of the case, further investigation was transferred to the National Investigation Agency.

Eight officers of the Special Cell -- Inspector Vinay Pal, SI Sukhbir Singh, SI Vikram Singh, SI Raghubir Singh, SI Sandesh, SI Akash Tomar, ASI Anshu, and HC Sudhir Latwal have also been conferred the special award. The Special Cell had exposed the nexus of ISI-Pakistan, Pro-Khalistan radicals, and Narco-terrorism and had averted a slew of target killings in Delhi by timely apprehension of Gurjit Singh alias Bhaa, Sukhdeep Singh alias Bhura (sharpshooters), and most wanted gangster Sukhmeet Pal Singh alias Sukh Bhikhariwal.

These sharpshooters had also killed Shaurya Chakra recipient Balwinder Singh Sandhu on the instructions of Sukh Bhikhariwal, who was working at the behest of the ISI. The ISI through its K2 desk -- Kashmir-Khalistan -- had been funding the target killings of right-wing leaders and opponents of terrorism through money made by drug trafficking. They had been pushing narcotics through Hizbul Mujahideen cadres based in Kashmir and supplying it to their Khalistani counterparts in Punjab for onward distribution.

Both the sharpshooters were nabbed after a brief exchange of fire along with three persons from Kashmir, Shabir Ahmad Gojree, Md. Ayub Pathan and Riyaz Rather. Two kg of fine quality heroin, three sophisticated weapons, and cash were recovered from their possession.