LUCKNOW UP Special Task Force (STF) inspector Sunil Kumar was awarded the Kirti Chakra posthumously for displaying exceptional courage during an encounter with armed criminals in Shamli district in January 2025, in which he made the supreme sacrifice. He was the first personnel of the UP STF to receive the Kirti Chakra, the second-highest peacetime gallantry award.
He played a key role in the operation in which a notorious criminal from Dujana village in Badalpur area of Gautam Buddha Nagar was killed. The criminals eventually stopped their vehicle near Udaipur Brick Kiln and opened indiscriminate fire when the STF team challenged them to surrender. Despite the intense firing, Kumar moved with his colleagues to close in on the criminals.
The honour assumes significance as Kumar had also been awarded a Gallantry Medal posthumously this Independence Day for another act of bravery — the STF encounter in Jani police station area of Meerut on May 4, 2023.
He was initially taken to a hospital in Karnal and later shifted to a hospital in Gurugram, where he died on January 22, 2025. Three criminals — Arshad, Manjit alias Dhilla alias Zuber and Manvir — were found injured inside the vehicle after the exchange of fire, while another accused, Satish, was found injured some distance away. The injured criminals were taken to hospital but later succumbed to their injuries. During the encounter, a burst of fire from the criminals hit Kumar, seriously injuring him.
