New Delhi: Downplaying the allegations that police sidelined CRPF personnel by recommending the names of two of its officers for the gallantry awards for an encounter, CRPF Director General Pranay Sahay said the recommendation of Bihar Police officials is a proposal of the state government.
"The recommendation of Bihar Police officials is a proposal of the state government. What the SHO has stated in the FIR is a legal document, I cannot comment on it. We give the highest number of nominations for gallantry medals every year, there is no question of sidelining anyone," he said.
A CNN-IBN and Open magazine expose has revealed that the Bihar Police recommended the names of two of its personnel for the President's gallantry medals allegedly for an encounter they did not take part in.
The Rohtas Naxal encounter took place in January 2012 and the CRPF claims that its officers partook in the operations and that the Bihar Police officers reached the site three hours later. They filed a false FIR and reported shooting eight rounds of cartridges during the shootout in which three Naxals were killed.
Days later, the Bihar government recommended the two for gallantry awards, while the CRPF commandos, who actually faced the bullets, were left out.
Photographs taken after the encounter showed the SP at the spot. The CRPF commandos who were present at the site said the SP and the SHO fired shots in the air after the encounter. Although the channel could not independently confirm this, CRPF officers said that the shots had been fired by the SP and the SHO three hours after the encounter.
In the last four years, more than 250 CRPF commandos have lost their lives in anti-Naxal operations.
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