Bihar Military Police havildar Anil Singh Allay with his silver medal and certificate. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Anil Singh Allay, a Bihar Military Police (BMP) havildar, bagged a silver medal in the shooting event of the All India Police Duty Meet held at Gurgaon in Haryana.

The four-day competition for the security forces across the country concluded on Monday.

Pritam Ekka, a BMP inspector and trainer for the police, said Allay, posted with the force’s 13th battalion stationed at Darbhanga, won a silver medal at the Gurgaon meet.

Allay won the medal in the 200m rifle shooting competition that also featured events in pistol, revolver, carbine and Insas. Sources in the state police headquarters said the men-in-uniform have received the award after a gap of 15 years.

A 25-member team from Bihar was selected for the duty meet, an annual affair for the police personnel to show their talent and skill at the national-level. Ekka said separate teams from the district police and the Government Railway Police took part in the event.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) secured the first position, while the Border Security Force (BSF) was declared runner-up. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was ranked third.

Bihar police coach Hari Prasad Thapa, a sub-inspector, accompanied the team. “We have to be content with the silver medal though we deserved something more,” said Ekka from Haryana.

The policemen drawn from different wings of the force had undergone rigorous practice on the grounds of the second battalion of the BMP at Dehri-on-Sone before the selection of the final team for the duty meet.

Senior officers from the police headquarters, including then BMP inspector-general A.K. Ambedkar (now inspector-general, Patna zone) had also visited Dehri-on-Sone to oversee the preparations for the mega event.

A senior police officer lamented that the team could practise only a little over a week before leaving for Haryana. “Even ammunition is not supplied to the force in adequate quantity for carrying out regular practice in shooting,” he added.