President awards two CRPF braves for gallantry

Two CRPF commandos, including one who was martyred while fighting Maoists, were today awarded peace time gallantry medals by President Pranab Mukherjee during the defence investiture ceremony here.
CoBRA commando Bhrigu Nandan Choudhary was awarded the 'Kirti Chakra' posthumously for displaying "extraordinary courage" in combating a Maoist squad in the Chakrabandha forests of Bihar in 2012, while another CoBRA officer of the paramilitary Deputy Commandant P R Mishra was awarded the 'Shaurya Chakra' for undertaking a daring anti-Naxal operation the same year in Jharkhand, an operation where he was shot twice in the chest.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is the lead force for tackling Left Wing Extremism in the country and the special unit CoBRA was created few years back in the force to carry out precision strikes in this theatre.

The slain trooper's citation speaks volumes about his dare devilry.
The citation for Choudhary said that despite sustaining severe injuries on his legs, he courageously fired volleys of bullets to save his colleagues during a Naxal ambush in September 2012, which has now earned him the distinction of being the first and only recipient from CRPF of this military medal- 'Kirti Chakra'.
The gallant commando of the elite guerrilla trained Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) saved the lives of the entire squad in the Maoist hotbed of Gaya and Aurangabad in Bihar during the encounter.

He also ensured that Maoists were not able to snatch the weapons of the force personnel.

Choudhary had received bullet injuries on his legs but that did not deter him from "crawling under excruciating pain" and helping his fellow trooper Daleep Singh change the magazine of his weapon which had slipped out of his hands because of the impact of a blast, his citation said.
Choudhary's mother received the medal from the President.
The other braveheart to be awraded today at the ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan is Deputy Commandant and five-time gallantry medal winner P R Mishra who was awarded the 'Shaurya Chakra'.
Mishra was shot five times by Naxals and has a record of continuously serving in Maoist-affected areas of Jharkhand and other Naxal affected areas for over a decade now.