Close to 35,400 police personnel lost their lives in action in the country since independence with CRPF, BSF and Karnataka police forces finding space in the top-five list of casualties in the past one year when 264 were added to the list.
According to official statistics released on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day, 264 were killed on duty across the country between September 1 last year and August 31 this year of which CRPF, the main force to fight naxals, topped the list with 29 casualties.
BSF and Chhattisgarh came second, recording 25 deaths on duty each. BSF is deployed on the sensitive India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders besides being deployed for internal security duties. Chhattisgarh is one of the worst naxal-infested states in the country where clashes between the Maoists and security forces erupt from time to time.
The ITBP, which is deployed on the icy heights of Himalayas to guard the India-China border, was placed third with 18 casualties followed by Karnataka with 17. Sashastra Seema Bal, which guards the India-Nepal border, lost 15 personnel during this period.
The statistics for other states and central police organisations included RPF-14, Jammu and Kashmir-12, Delhi-11, West Bengal-11, Bihar-9, Uttar Pradesh-9, Jharkhand-8, CISF-7, Madhya Pradesh-7, Uttarakhand-6, Maharashtra-5, Assam Rifles-3, Andhra Pradesh-3, Tamil Nadu-3, Arunachal Pradesh-2, Haryana-2, Manipur-2, Punjab-2, Rajasthan-2, Andaman and Nicobar-2 and Tripura-2.
Altogether 35,398 police personnel were killed since independence. Besides this, at least 343 personnel have died due to Covid-19 since March this year.
Police Commemoration Day is observed on October 21 every year to pay homage to 10 CRPF personnel killed in an ambush by Chinese military in Ladakh's Hot Spring area on the same day in 1959.
Addressing a function on the occasion at the National Police Memorial here, Home Minister Amit Shah said the government is undertaking a comprehensive modernisation programme to prepare the police and paramilitary forces for newer challenges of terrorism, cyber crime and border security.
"The work of police is witnessing new challenges and new dimensions in the areas of terrorism, fake currency, narcotics control, cyber crime, arms smuggling, human trafficking. It is a challenge to prepare the police forces for the new dimensions that have emerged in the last 2-3 decades," Shah said.
Emphasising that the government is bringing in technology to make the country's borders "impregnable", he said technology and promptness of troops will go hand-in-hand. "We will be able to better secure our borders", he said.