M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 25: The 1995 batch IPS officer Sanjay Anand Lathkar name has been declared for the President’s Medal for his distinguished service on the eve of the Republic Day.
At present, Lathkar is the Additional Director General (ADG) of police (operations) Jharkhand.
Lathkar has so far received eight prestigious medals and more than 60 commendations and appreciations which include police medal for gallantry, CM medal for gallantry, police medal for meritorious service and internal security medal to name a few.
Lathkar is also a recipient of 11 DG CRPF Commendation Discs.
Lagatar English spoke to Lathkar this evening to know how he feels about his name being declared for the prestigious President’s Medal.
The senior IPS officer said modestly that he is happy and will always be performing his duties with dedication.
Lathkar is the IPS officer who first said the fight with naxals is ‘a ding-dong battle where scales may go any side’.
As the ADG (operations) Jharkhand, Lathkar is well aware that the naxals’ cunning and deception have no bounds, as they are quick to point to devious and diabolical schemes.
He constantly reminds his officers not to let their guard down. According to him, the strike power of the naxals has gone down but one can’t be rash to just write them off. He always says that cops can’t afford to be complacent in terms of extremism.
According to sources, there was a road construction agency in Lohardaga which was being tortured by the naxals for levy. An official of this agency narrated the difficulties before Latkhar who took strong cognizance and helped the agency.
Lathkar is one of the few police officers in Jharkhand who loves to speak candidly and always keeps the morale of his cops high no matter what the situation or circumstances are around.
He is said to be a strong stickler of standard operation procedure and feels hurt and anguished if cops ignore or overlook SOPs.
He is the first senior police officer to ask naxals to shun violence, lay arms and ammunition first and then come and take Covid vaccine and their health concerns will be taken care of.
The IPS officer has also had his successful stint in Bihar and Maharashtra. He played a very strategic role in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra which is called as the naxal heartland.
