Srinagar, Aug 14: At least 53 personnel from Jammu and Kashmir, including 52 from the J&K Police and one from the Home Guard and Civil Defence, have been awarded Gallantry and Service Medals on the occasion of Independence Day 2026.
The J&K Police awardees include 38 personnel who have been conferred the Medal for Gallantry (GM), 13 who received the Medal for Meritorious Service (MSM) and Senior Superintendent Shoket Hussain Shah, who has been awarded the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM).
Among those conferred the GM are several senior officers, including DIG Shiv Kumar, IPS, SSP Shobhit D Saksena, IPS, SP Nasir Ahmad, SP Mushtaq Ahmad, DIG Pande Rajiv Omprakash, IPS, and SP Divya D, IPS.
DySP Sarfaraz Bashir has received the “second bar to the Medal for Gallantry” while Head Constable Rayeesh Ahmad Reshi and SgCT Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan have been awarded the “first bar to the GM”.
The remaining gallantry awardees include Waseem Mohi-Ud-Din Lone, Manzoor Ahmad, Mudasir Ahmad, Ashak Hussain P, Kishore Kumar, Javid Iqbal Jan, Mohinder Singh, Sheeraz Ahmad, Surinder Paul, Ishtiyaq Ahmad Reshi, Tanveer Hussain Lone, Mudasir Ahmad Shah, Kalu Din, Adit Kumar Nad, Mohd Usman, Shabir Ahmad Malik, Manzoor Ahmad Ganie, Khurshid Ahmed Wani, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, Ab Rashid Mir, Mohamad Shafi Banday, Abdul Rashid, Zahoor Ahmad, Zahoor Ahmad, Dheeraj Kumar, Shakir Hassan, Vikram Nag, Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Tariq Ahmad.
Meanwhile, the 13 personnel selected for the MSM include SP Sandeep Kumar, SP Amit Gupta, DySP Rajesh Sharma, DySP Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, DySP Kuljeet Singh, DySP Sharat Chander Singh, Inspector Shamim Ahmed, Inspector Vikram Singh, ASI Bodh Raj, Inspector Mumin Ahmad Rather, ASI Mushtaq Ahmed, SI Manzoor Ahmad Gada and Constable Ashraf Gull.
Separately, one member of the J&K Home Guard and Civil Defence has been selected for the MSM.
The official force-wise breakup lists J&K with 38 GM, one PSM and 13 MSM entries under the police service category. The PSM entry, however, pertains to Ranganathan B, SP, Puducherry, and is not an award to a J&K Police officer.
The Independence Day medal honours recognise personnel for acts of bravery and distinguished or meritorious service rendered in the line of duty. The medals were announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the eve of Independence Day.