MP: Martyr's mother says police demanded bribe to find stolen medals, govt promises action

The mother of a martyred Army Captain on Thursday accused Shahpur police in Madhya Pradesh of demanding a bribe to make efforts to trace the bravery medals of her son that were stolen in 2014.

Nirmala Sharma, a resident of Shahpura locality in Bhopal, told IANS that her only son, Captain Devashish Sharma of Punjab Battalion, was killed on 10 December, 1994, during Operation Rakshak.

He was posthumously awarded Kirti Chakra by the government of India and a bravery award by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The medals were stolen during a theft at their house on 21 October, 2014, regarding which a report was lodged in Shahpura police station.

Nirmala said certain police officials demanded money to make efforts to trace the stolen medals, which she refused.

When contacted, Bhopal (South) Superintendent of Police Anshuman Singh said the police had not received any complaint in this regard.

“We got to know about this from the media only,” he said and assured of suitable action.

News18 reported that Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh visited Nirmala Sharma’s house and assured them of a re-investigation into the case.

“My son won’t come back, at least return his honour,” the report quoted Nirmala as saying. CNN-News18 also reported that she has been invited to an event which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nirmala said that she will tell the PM about the issue if she gets to meet him.

With inputs from IANS