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Bohani (Narsinghpur), Nov 20 (IANS) In a cruel twist that has left the entire village speechless with grief, Madhya Pradesh Police Hawk Force Inspector Ashish Kumar Sharma was cremated with full state honors at Muktidham in Bohani on Thursday, exactly two months ago on the day he was to bring home a bride.
The 32-year-old distinguished Hawk Force officer was recently martyred on November 19 when his team came under heavy firing during an anti-Maoist operation in the Kauhapani forest on the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border in Rajnandgaon district.
Despite being hit by four bullets, he continued to fight till the end and a few hours later, he was declared a “shaheed” (martyr) in the hospital.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav reached Bohani in Narsinghpur district to pay his last respects, paid floral tributes to the tricolor-draped body, saluted the martyr and sat for several minutes with the bereaved mother who kept caressing her son’s face.
In an emotional tweet on his official X account, the Chief Minister said, ‘The entire Madhya Pradesh stands with the family in this hour of grief.’
“Their glorious story of bravery and supreme sacrifice will always be remembered and will continue to inspire generations.”
CM Yadav said, “To preserve his memory, the state government has decided to build a park and a sports stadium in the native village of the martyrs, which will be named after him. Apart from this, the younger brother of a martyr will be appointed to the post of sub-inspector in Madhya Pradesh Police.”
The inspector’s mortal remains reached the village from Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday morning, following which thousands of people stood on the streets from Jabalpur to Narsinghpur, showering flowers on the ambulance and raising slogans of “Ashish Sharma amar rahe” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
Ashish Sharma was not an ordinary policeman.
He was the person who terrified the Maoists with the very name of Hawk Force.
He joined Madhya Pradesh Police in 2016, volunteered for the anti-Maoist Hawk Force in February 2018, earned two gallantry medals and received out-of-turn promotion from sub-inspector to inspector on February 21, 2023, after killing two senior female Maoist commanders Sunita and Sarita (combined reward of Rs 28 lakh) in the Kawal encounter.
On December 18, 2022, he killed Maoist Bhagwan carrying a bounty of Rs 14 lakh in Harratol.
In February 2025, his team killed four Maoists in the overgrown forests of Balaghat – an operation so well executed that the site is now part of the training module for new DSPs (Deputy Superintendents of Police) and young officers are taken there and told, “This is how Ashish Sharma did it.”
Every senior officer who worked with Inspector Ashish Kumar Sharma says the same thing – he always took the most dangerous position in the formation, always walked the talk and always smiled when bullets were fired.
Instead of processional music, the village heard only the sound of the last post and the crack of a three-volley salute.
On Thursday afternoon in Bohani village, Ashish’s mother wrapped her son’s unfinished wedding turban around his body, kissed his forehead for the last time and started crying so hard that even the toughest policemen standing guard would cry.
Inspector Ashish Sharma is survived by his parents and a younger brother.
–IANS
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