New Delhi: The Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak for 2025 has been awarded to 1,466 police personnel nationwide, which includes 40 Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF personnel who were instrumental in the killing of terrorists involved in the Pahalgham incident.
Inspector General (Kashmir range) V K Birdi and Senior Superintendent of Police (Srinagar) G V Sundeep Chakraborty were among 19 officers from Jammu and Kashmir who have been awarded the medal for Operation Mahadev, in which terrorists behind the audacious Pahalgam attack were eliminated.
Sulieman alias Asif, who is believed to be the mastermind of the April 22 attack, was killed after security forces launched a surprise action, codenamed 'Operation Mahadev', following a technical signal indicating satellite phone use by the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack.
The other terrorists identified as Jibran -- who was allegedly involved in the Sonamarg Tunnel attack last year -- and Hamza Afghani were also eliminated during the operation.
Personnel from the 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 Para unit located the group of terrorists and neutralised them after a "long-drawn operation".
As many as 26 persons -- mostly tourists -- were shot dead by terrorists at Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam on April 22, which prompted the armed forces to launch 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7 against terror infrastructure in Pakistan.