Ranchi, Aug. 14: Three policemen who took part in an anti-Naxalite operation in the forests of Narkandi in Gomia in 2003 will receive the Police Medal for Gallantry conferred by the Union government this year, one of them posthumously.

The three were part of a Hazaribagh police team that killed two Naxalites in Narkandi on December 6, 2003.

The names of 17 others, including inspector general (special branch) Satya Narayan Pradhan and inspector general (training) Prashant Singh feature in the list of recipients of awards for distinguished and meritorious service.

The three to win the gallantry awards are then deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) of Hazaribagh Hemant Toppo, who is now Dumka superintendent of police, then sub-inspector Naresh Prasad Sharma, who is now inspector in police control room in Patna and late constable Lutu Banara, a Chaibasa tribal whose family would receive the award on his behalf.

“We were raiding the jungles of Narkandi in search of dreaded Naxalites, including local zonal commander Nipendra Gounjhu. An encounter took place in which Gounjhu along with another rebel, Biplav, were killed. Banara also sustained bullet injuries and died later,” Toppo told The Telegraph over phone from Dumka.

Toppo recalled how they arrested two employees of a construction major who were allegedly returning from the jungles of Gomia bordering Churchu after paying a levy of Rs 1 crore. The money was to ensure smooth execution of a four-laning project of NH-2. The two also provided vital information about the location of the rebels.

“Lutu Banara was a true fighter and so was Sharma. Banara’s widow was compensated by the state police,” Toppo, a 2001 batch IPS officer said. Toppo joined the state police as DSP in 1984 and was promoted as IPS in 2001.

The Centre also declared that Satya Narayan Pradhan, who has been instrumental in many successful operations against the Naxalites, would receive the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Pradhan, at present inspector general (special branch), has been in-charge of operations as well as modernisation in the past. “This is a honour for me and I accept this most humbly,” he told The Telegraph.

Recipients of Police Medal for Meritorious Service include inspector general (training) Prashant Singh, Special Branch in-charge superintendent of police Manoj Kumar Singh, in-charge superintendent of police at CID Sangita Kumari, in-charge superintendents of police at vigilance bureau Devendra Thakur and Raj Kumar Lakra, inspector in battalion number four of India Reserve Battalion Jagdish Singh, assistant sub-inspector at CID Nawal Kishor Prasad Thakur, vigilance bureau sub-inspector Ramesh Kumar, assistant sub-inspector of police in vigilance bureau Devendra Nath Upadhayay, STF havildars Suraj Kumar Thapa, Lok Bahadur Sarki, Narayan Jaisi, Rajen Rana, Anselan Gadhi and Hakim Das besides Special Branch havildar Dilip Tirkey.