CRPF hands over Rs 11L cheque to ex-jawan whose house was damaged in Delhi riots

Living up to its motto of 'service and loyalty', the CRPF stepped in to help its former jawan Aish Mohammed with a cheque of Rs 11 lakh after his house was damaged in communal clashes in the national capital recently.

While handing over the cheque, Director General of CRPF A P Maheswari hugged an emotional Aish and said "this is your family".

The house of Aish, who served the world's largest para-military force for 22 years before retiring as a head constable, was at Baghirathi Vihar in northeast Delhi.

His house was "damaged and plundered by anti-social elements" during the riots on February 25, the CRPF said.

"He (Aish) along his son somehow managed to escape to safety with the help of their neighbour".

The officials of para-military force came to know about the plight of the jawan through media reports and a decision was taken to stand by its retired jawan who had served the country for 22 years.

The cheque was handed over at a simple ceremony held at the CRPF headquarters here.

"The CRPF stands committed for the welfare of its personnel and their families. This act is a gesture to say that all serving and retired personnel of the force are our family," CRPF spokesperson DIG Moses Dhinakaran said.

A senior official said the assistance amount of Rs 11 lakh is drawn from the welfare fund of the force and it can be used to help both serving and former staffers.

With about 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks, the CRPF is the country's largest Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and is the lead national internal security force.

In a similar manner, the Border Security Force (BSF) had on Monday handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to its jawan Mohammed Anees whose house in northeast Delhi was vandalised and burnt by rioters.

The border guarding force has also pledged to re-build the house of Anees and hand it over to him as a "wedding gift" as he is scheduled to get married soon.

Over 40 people have been killed and many injured in the communal clashes that took place on February 24-25.