In a first such step for a central armed police force, CRPF has decided to honour its jawans and officers killed in action with the prefix Shaheed in their names.

The country’s leading anti-Naxal operations force, which by virtue of its huge deployment has the highest casualty rate among all forces deployed in internal security duties, has issued instructions for use of the prefix with immediate effect for all casualties where the trooper or officer was on duty.

Recently, Central Reserve Police Force Director General Dilip Trivedi wrote to his field formations for implementing the instructions in this regard in “letter and spirit”. “There was a demand from all quarters about the need to address our slain personnel in a befitting manner. We found there is nothing that restricts us from taking a decision in this regard and, in order to give full respect to our martyrs, we recently issued directions to prefix their names with Shaheed,” Mr. Trivedi told PTI.

CRPF has the maximum deployment of troops in anti-Naxal operations at close to 90,000 personnel and has lost hundreds of men in combating Maoists over the years.

All official communication, messages, addresses and citations will mention Shaheed before the name of any jawan or officer who was killed in action in any theatre where the force is deployed — left wing extremism, anti-insurgency in North East, operations against militants in Jammu and Kashmir and for rendering any sort of law and order duty across the country, the DG said.

The country’s largest paramilitary force, with three lakh personnel, also recently instituted trophies in the names of its Shaheed troopers who were awarded military medals of bravery or top police gallantry medals.