The gold-plated medals with red and blue ribbons pinned on the chest of the most gallant of policemen are losing their shine. Or so it would seem, with a spate of recommendations and medals awarded being questioned by policemen themselves. It appears that medals are given away for fake encounters, fictitious anti-terror acts and recovery of "stolen" goods-all that deception is largely aimed at free train trips and subsidised air travel that come with the award.

PICTURE SPEAK

UNCLEAR SIGNS: Chief Minister Raman Singh with Paswan (left)

The Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) and President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) are given for exceptional bravery in circumstances that may result in death or involve a close shave with death. Almost a third of the recipients were awarded these medals posthumously and their families would squirm at the very thought of some policemen winning such medals for fictitious encounters and fake killings-the medal for which their dear ones gave their lives could now be won simply by manufacturing and doctoring police records. Why go to Kashmir or sensitive borders or take on Naxalites and dacoits when something as simple as restraining a burly crowd could have done it?

A few senior IPS officers of the Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh cadre have come under the official scanner after their names were recommended for the PMG and PPMG. Additional DGP Rajeev Mathur of Chhattisgarh was recommended for a PPMG in 2003 by the then DGP Ashok Darbari for an incident of which there was no official record at the time. There were also no details available of the incident in police records as it apparently took place at a secret training camp organised by the police for counter-Naxalite operations in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. Mathur is said to have saved the lives of 20 policemen by alerting them of the presence of a grenade inside the training area when the practice session was on. The only witnesses to the incident are those who were present at the secret campsite. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has received a complaint about Mathur which says he was transferred from the post of ADG (Intelligence) on January 1, 2003 and he is believed to have performed the act of bravery on January 6 before handing over the charge on January 14. The then home secretary Robert Harangdola had written a dissenting note on the file but the recommendation has now been forwarded to the mha by state Home Minister Brijmohan Agarwal. "It is suspicious indeed because after being transferred it is obligatory not to go on assignments like secret training," says a senior police officer.

MEDAL MUDDLE

RAJEEV MATHUR: The police officer was recommended for a PPMG in 2003 by the then Chhattisgarh DGP Ashok Darbari for an incident of which there was no intimation to the government at the time. The Kanker SP sent the details of the incident a month later. S.K. PASWAN: He won a PPMG for "saving" the lives of some senior police officers at Jagdalpur who were confronted by some NGO activists protesting against setting up of Nagarnar steel plant. The protesters vouch there was no violence at all. JAIDEEP PRASAD: The MP cadre officer was recommended for a PPMG for recovering dynamite stolen by Naxalites after an "encounter" in which nobody was killed or injured.

Mathur refutes such allegations. "It was a secret camp to train soldiers for anti-Naxalite operations and I had taken up the responsibility after it had been declined by several senior officers. The then chief minister (Ajit Jogi) and the state DGP were aware of the whole exercise and the incident," he says.

Says S.K. Das, DGP, Madhya Pradesh: "The medals are given for exceptional bravery in Naxalite, terrorism or dacoity-related operations, where there is real danger." It is rarely given for maintenance of law and order, except in the case of officers with outstanding merit. Another ADG in Chhattisgarh, Sant Kumar Paswan, has won a PPMG for "saving" the lives of some senior police officers at Jagdalpur from some NGO activists and villagers who were protesting against setting up of a steel plant on their land. The protesters say there was no violence at all. On his part, Paswan claims around 500 villagers had surrounded the SP, additional SP and six other policemen at the Nagarnar police station when he reached the spot with 20 constables. He rescued them as well as his team from the violent agitators. "There was a magisterial enquiry and it was found that there was real danger to the lives of the policemen involved and I risked my life to rescue them," claims Paswan. The police records, however, show no signs of firing and no one was killed in the encounter. Moreover, none of the other policemen involved, including SP Longkumer, was recommended for any medal or promotion though the danger would have been equal for all. Paswan, quite obviously, hastens to add that even an officer of the stature of Kiran Bedi had received a PPMG for the maintenance of law and order.

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EYE OF STORM: Mathur (below) has earned the displeasure of colleagues	RAID OF MOTIVE: Many policemen have got out-of-turn promotions

An inquiry has been ordered by the Madhya Pradesh Police after complaints were received against the awarding of a PPMG for the then Balaghat SP Jaideep Prasad. Balaghat dig Muniraju is enquiring into the incident and has so far got conflicting reports. Prasad has been recommended for PPMG for recovering eight tonnes of dynamite stolen by suspected Naxalites. The miscreants had stolen 12 tonnes of dynamite being transported to an secl coalfield near Balaghat. They had hidden the booty inside the jungle because they could not carry it at one go. Prasad claims to have recovered the dynamite after an exchange of fire with Naxalites. Subsequently, eight policemen were promoted out of turn on Prasad's recommendation for finding the stolen goods even though the real find was apparently made 10 months later when the remaining four tonnes of the dynamite were recovered from the "Naxalites". But Muniraju doubts that there was any "exchange of fire" which makes it a simple case of recovery of stolen goods. Nobody was injured in the incident.

It is not just pride, the real attraction of winning the gallantry medals lies in the cash rewards that accrue to the recipient. A PPMG recipient gets Rs 650 a month till death after which his wife is entitled to the money. A PMG winner gets Rs 450 per month with similar provisions. The medal winners are entitled to free second ac train travel along with a companion and a 70 per cent concession on airfare. Several other distinguished service medals don't have any such benefits. The recommendations made by a state are finally cleared by a committee of the MHA and the medals are presented to the policemen during the Independence Day parade held in their respective states.

Several members of the BSF, CRPF and ITBP serving in dangerous areas have to vie with such officers flaunting recommendation letters from individual states for the medal. The fact that some officers get medals even after several rejections for the same incident has rendered the whole process laughable. Responsible officers will do well to remember that.

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