As many as 22 policemen from Jharkhand have been conferred with Independence Day awards for bravery and meritorious service, according to list put forth by the Union ministry of home affairs on Saturday.

While six policemen have been named for the Police Medal for Gallantry, one has been named for the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 15 for the Police Medal for Meritorious service.

Among those named for gallantry are Manish Chandra Lal (inspector), Suresh Ram (SI), Rohit Kumar Rajak (DAP), Anirudha Kumar Ojha (DPF-SAT-2) and Yashwant Mahto (DPF SAT-2).

Lal, who is posted in Gumla as SDPO, has been rewarded for his bravery during his stint in Hazaribagh in 2015 when he and his team raided a village in Chouparan upon receiving a tip-off about the of assembly of over 70 dreaded rebels. Following a fierce gun battle, Lal and his team also managed to gun down three Maoists.

Recalling the encounter while speaking with reporters on Saturday, Lal said that it was one of the most challenging experiences of his career. But, he said he was happy that they successfully managed to thwart a major plan by rebels.

“The encounter took place on January 12, 2015 when my team and I headed to the jungles in Chouparan after SP’s directives upon receiving a secret information about presence of large squads of Maoists. As we ventured into the forest, one group of rebels opened fire on us. We were were attacked from all sides but we retaliated with full might, forcing the rebels to retreat. We were successful in killing three naxals. We seizesd lots of ammunition and illegally amassed money to the tune of lakhs,” he said.

Lal is also known to have killed over half a dozen naxals in Garwah during his stint there in 2008 for which he was also awarded the President’s bravery medal.