NEW DELHI: A CRPF jawan, who saved the lives of Vaishno Devi pilgrims trapped in a landslide in 2016, has been posthumously decorated with the PM's police medal for life-saving.
A spokesperson for the paramilitary said Head Constable Harvinder Singh of the 6th battalion of the force has been decorated with the Prime Minister's medal for "showing exemplary ideal of self-sacrifice in a life-threatening incident" on August 24, 2016.
Singh, deployed for frisking of pilgrims and others to the famous shrine that day, noticed some women pilgrims and their children trapped under a landslide even as few others present around were hit by flying stones and pebbles.
During this rescue bid, he said, Singh was hit by a falling boulder and later succumbed to grievous injuries, the spokesperson said.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is tasked to guard the cave shrine in Trikuta hills of Reasi district of Jammu against terror and sabotage threats.