Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who died in the 2008 Batla House encounter, has been awarded gallantry medal posthumously. Sharma worked in the Delhi Police�s Special Cell.

The Union home ministry on Friday released the list of police personnel who have been awarded the medals a day before the Independence Day.

While 215 police personnel have been given the medal for gallantry, 80 will get the President�s Police Medal for distinguished service and 631 for meritorious service.

Sharma, then 44, had suffered three bullets when he went to capture five suspected terrorists hiding in south Delhi�s Batla House September 19, 2008. He later succumbed to the injuries in a hospital.

He had joined Delhi Police as a sub-inspector in 1989 and soon proved himself to be a cop with a nose to the ground. Sharma was given an out-of-turn promotion and made inspector in 1995.

However, the citation which mentions the act of bravery of an award winner has not been released so far. So it is not clear if Sharma has been given the award for the encounter or any previous act of gallantry. He was awarded the Ashok Chakra in 2009.

This is Sharma�s seventh gallantry medal. He was awarded the president�s medal seven times.

This year, the gallantry awards list is topped by the police personnel from Jammu and Kashmir who have won 81 medals. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with 51 medals is at the second spot.

The home ministry officials familiar with the selection process said that majority of gallantry medals went to these two forces due to counter-insurgency operations.