India, Aug. 15 -- 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.

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 played a key role in the operation in which a notorious criminal from Dujana village in Badalpur area of Gautam Buddha Nagar was killed.

Kum...