Ten officers and personnel from the Uttar Pradesh Police and Fire Department, serving in Ghaziabad, have been named recipients of the gallantry medal on the occasion of Republic Day 2025, officials said on Saturday. The ministry of home affairs’ official list noted that 942 personnel across police, fire, home guard, civil defence, and correctional services were awarded Gallantry and Service Medals this year.
Of the total, 95 personnel are to be awarded the gallantry medal, including 78 from police services and 17 from fire services. The gallantry medal is conferred for acts of rare and conspicuous gallantry in saving lives and property or in preventing crime or apprehending criminals, officials said.
The Ghaziabad Police commissionerate’s honourees include ACP Swatantra Kumar Singh (Indirapuram circle), chief fire officer (CFO) Rahul Pal, inspector Abdur Rehman Siddiqui(crime branch), retired fire station officer Kunwar Singh, and constables Neeraj Kumar [Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team – city zone] and Sandeep Kumar (SWAT team – commisionerate), among others. “The names have been announced for officers and personnel for the GM, and these include 10 who are presently posted in Ghaziabad,” said Rajesh Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (city). Apart from the aforementioned recipients, firemen Jogendra Singh, Prahlad Singh and Ayushman Kumar Sharma along with fire tender driver Satendra Singh will also be honoured.
Amongst the honourees, ACP Swatantra Kumar Singh, a national-level shooter, faced direct gunfire from notorious criminal Rakesh Dujana during a crackdown in May 2022 near Madhuban Bapudham, Ghaziabad. Singh, protected by a bulletproof jacket, retaliated and killed Dujana. That same night, Dujana’s accomplice, Billu Dujana, was gunned down near the Hindon Pushta area. Together, the two suspects were involved in 52 heinous crimes, including murders and extortion, and had killed two brothers in April 2022 in the Wave City police station area, officers aware of the incident said.
Similarly, CFO Rahul Pal and his team were recognised for rescuing 10 ICU patients during a major fire incident at a private hospital in Indirapuram in August 2023. “Several of our firefighters also suffered injuries during the incident, but we saved all 10 patients in the ICU,” Pal said.
23 Noida officers also honoured
In neighbouring Gautam Budh Nagar, 23 officers from the Noida Police commissionerate will receive awards on Republic Day. These include ACPs, inspectors, sub-inspectors, and constables.
“ACP Kamini Rathore and Vivek Ranjan Rai (Cyber ACP at Mahakumbh), inspectors Vinod Kumar, Krishna Gopal Sharma, and Dhruv Bhusan Dubey, as well as five sub-inspectors, fireman Sugriv Singh Bhadoria, and 12 constables (including three female constables), will receive the awards,” according to data from the Noida police.
The police said the final list was approved by the Director General of Police (DGP) office in 2023. “All of them will accept the different awards on Sunday. Around 15 officers from Uttar Pradesh will get the GM. It is not clear yet how many of them are from the Gautam Budh Nagar district. We are checking the list issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs,” said a senior officer on condition of anonymity.
Gautam Budh Nagar, chief fire officer, Pradeep Kumar Chaubey, said, “Four fire department officers, including CFO Arun Kumar Singh, fire officer Shri Narayan, and constables (Fireman) Mukul and Kapil Yadav, are getting gallantry medals. They will be awarded for saving 10 people from the fire in Sector 20 on September 2022.”