Ashok Chakra for Odisha Police's SOG officer who sacrificed his life fighting Maoists
New Delhi, Oct 14 : An Assistant Commandant of the Odisha Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has been conferred with the Ashok Chakra posthumously for sacrificing his life while fighting the Naxals, home ministry officials said Sunday.
Assistant Commandant Pramod Kumar Satpathy laid down his life on February 16, 2008 during a fire-fight between the security forces and the Maoists in the Gosama jungle of Ganjam district and adjoining areas of Phulbani district.
Keeping in view his heroism and bravery, Satpathy was awarded with the gallantry medal Ashok Chakra posthumously, a Home Ministry official said.
On February 15, 2008, at about 10.30 PM, more than 500 heavily armed Naxals carried out simultaneous and multi-pronged attacks on the police training school (PTS) armouries located in Nayagarh police station, two other police stations and one out post of Nayagarh and one police station and one out post in Ganjam, the officials said.
Naxalite cadres, many of them from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, participated in the operation in which more than 1,200 weapons of various categories, including sophisticated ones, were looted and 14 police personnel and one civilian lost their lives, the official said.
After carrying out the operations, the militants retreated to the outlying jungle area of Ganjam and Phulbani districts in hijacked buses and other vehicles along with their arms and ammunition.
Immediately after, Satpathy and other SOG members rushed to Nayagarh on motor cycles. Assistant Commandant Satpathy quickly made a plan and with available forces, including the SOG, the Orissa Special Armed Police, the CRPF surrounded the area where the Naxals were hiding.
Subsequently, the team led by Satpathy mounted an assault. However, the naxalites took advantage of their numerical strength and unleashed heavy fire, another official said.
In the encounter, the SOG team had to retreat and in the ensuing operation Satpathy lost his life.
The Ashok Chakra is the country's military award for valour, courage action and self-sacrifice. It is first in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards.
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Pak police registers case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on LeT co-founder
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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.
On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.
In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.
"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.
He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.
The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."
It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.
"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.
It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.
The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.
The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.
TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.
The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases.
Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.
In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
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