Every year, Police Commemoration Day is observed on October 21 to remember and honour the brave policemen who were martyred in the line of duty. The day is reminiscent of the sacrifices of ten CRPF bravehearts who lose their lives in 1959 after they were attacked by Chinese troops in Ladakh.
The patrol party, which was commanded by DCIO Karam Singh, had gone to search for a missing reconnaissance party and was ambushed by the Chinese PLA. Even as the Chinese army personnel were in large numbers and heavily armed, the Indian security forces put up a valiant fight against them at a height of sixteen thousand feet in sub-zero conditions.
Seven of them were imprisoned by Chinese troops while the remains of ten valiant men of CRPF were returned by to India on November 28, more than a month later.
Since that day, October 21 is observed as 'Police Commemoration Day' by all police formations to commemorate loyalty and supreme sacrifice of police personnel for their motherland.
Union Home minister Amit Shah, while speaking at the National Police Memorial in Delhi, paid his tribute to all police personnel who laid down their lives for the country.
"35,398 police personnel have sacrificed their lives from independence till today. I want to tell their family members that this memorial is not made up only of bricks, stones and cement, it also reminds the country that every single drop of the martyrs' blood has taken India forward on the path of development, he said.
"Policemen have to be alert 24×7 even during festivals. When people celebrate festivals, a policeman still has to be on duty," he added.
