An amputee CRPF officer RK Singh, decorated with the ‘Shaurya Chakra’ for a daring operation against Naxals in 2011, will become the first officer from the security forces to run a half marathon that is being organized by the CRPF here in October as part of the celebration of 75 years of existence.
The young officer with 11 years’ service in the country’s largest paramilitary force has beaten many odds including denial of permission due to a low medical category last year because of amputation of his left leg.
The NDA Government has, however, corrected the unfair treatment and has cleared him for promotion. Singh was awarded the coveted Shaurya Chakra for his outstanding bravery during an anti-Naxal ambush in Jharkhand's lohardaga where he encountered blasts triggered by 192 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) saving a number of his colleagues and those from the State police.
Undeterred by his handicap, Singh will run for the half marathon using a set of blades imported from United States. He has been granted a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh from the CRPF to get the blades. The first-ever 'Run for Unity' half-marathon will be hosted by CRPF to honour its martyrs on October 12 here. Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will flag off the event in the presence of other sports achievers like boxer Mary Kom and Virendra Sehwag among others.
CRPF Director General Dilip Trivedi said Singh's promotion has recently been cleared by the Union Home Ministry and he has been posted in the headquarter operations unit of the force in Delhi as a Deputy Commandant now. Singh, who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad, has largely been deployed in the anti-Maoist operations theatre out of his own choice.
The officer is credited in the paramilitary force as the man who averted another 'Dantewada type' ambush on CRPF in which 75 personnel were killed in 2010.