Kumar joined the CRPF in March 2013. After training, he was sent to Kashmir in 2015 in his first posting. Kumar joined the CRPF in March 2013. After training, he was sent to Kashmir in 2015 in his first posting.

On the morning of February 13, 2018, CRPF Assistant Commandant Naresh Kumar landed at Srinagar airport and went straight to the officer handling airport security. He handed the officer, Assistant Commandant Sheetal Rawat, a nicely wrapped gift with a bouquet and told her that if he didn’t return by the evening, she should consider it an early Valentine’s Day present.

Kumar, the head of CRPF’s crack commando unit Quick Action Team (QAT) in Kashmir, had been called from Delhi to meet an emergency. Two days after the Sunjuwan camp attack, where six soldiers had been killed, the CRPF’s Karan Nagar camp had come under attack. The terrorists were holed up in an abandoned building and the operation had raged on for 24 hours. Kumar knew his life was on the line. Rawat, his wife, did not bat an eyelid and sent him off.

In a short operational career of four years, Kumar has won six police medals for gallantry (PMG), the sixth one awarded this Republic Day.

In the Karan Nagar encounter, when hours of gunfight did not yield results, Kumar formed a six-member team and stormed the building, killing the lone surviving militant inside.

Born to an Army officer in Hoshiyarpur in Punjab, Kumar completed his BTech from Punjabi University, Patiala, and then started appearing for Armed forces entrance exams.

“Being from an armed forces background, I was always associated with the culture. Uniform always attracted me. I promised my father that I will start from where you left. In fact, I completed BTech to have one more option of technical entry into the forces,” Kumar told The Indian Express.

Kumar joined the CRPF in March 2013. After training, he was sent to Kashmir in April 2015 in his first posting. In 2016, after an encounter, CRPF decided to form a Quick Action Team of commandos and Kumar was chosen to lead it.

Within months came his first test when armed militants attacked a police picket at Nauhatta chowk. “We killed them in minutes and proved that the CRPF fighting capability in urban warfare is of high quality. Since then, we have conducted multiple operations with the Army and J&K police,” said Kumar, who was awarded his first PMG for this operation.

Another key encounter Kumar participated in was at Arwani, Bijbehara on December 7-9, 2016, where they had infomation that two Hizbul Mujahideen commanders were holed up in a house.

“It was a hostile neighbourhood. There was lot of stone-pelting and the encounter had continued for three days. One paramilitary personnel was injured. First, it was planned that the house would be blasted. But there were thousands of people and there was a risk of collateral damage. Then a room intervention was decided upon and QAT was chosen. Within minutes, we stormed the house and neutralised the militants,” Kumar said. This got Kumar his second gallantry medal.

His other operations included brush with militants at Budgam in July 2017, at Lethpora on December 31, 2018, and at Chattabal on May 5, 2019. In fact, his team has neutralised close to 50 militants since 2015.

There hasn’t been a year when Kumar has not bagged a gallantry medal.

Kumar says his wife is a “pillar of strength” for him.

“Since she is also an officer, I don’t have to explain why I do what I do. I am never under the pressure to seek peace postings.”

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