NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has completed 12 consecutive months without losing any personnel in operational fatalities, marking an achievement not recorded in the force in 47 years.CRPF Director General GP Singh congratulated personnel on the milestone, saying the last operational death in the force was recorded on October 30, 2025. The previous time the CRPF went such a long period without an operational fatality was before January 1979.Sharing the achievement on X, Singh wrote, “A significant milestone in the history of CRPF – 12 consecutive months (One Year) have passed without any Operational fatality in the force, the last operational fatality in the force being on Oct 30th 2025. This has happened after 47 Years (last such period ended in January 1979).”He attributed the achievement to improvements in equipment, training and operational planning. The force’s focus on responding quickly to incidents, particularly by evacuating injured personnel to secondary and tertiary medical facilities, had also played an important role, he said.“It’s especially significant since this has happened while we continue to be deployed and engage intensely in all the major operational theatres, achieving significant breakthrough results. We remain committed to keeping the country peaceful & safe for all its citizens,” wrote the CRPF D-G.
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However, the milestone comes against the backdrop of another serious challenge facing the force, the rising number of personnel dying by suicide. Such deaths are recorded separately from fatalities during security operations.In August, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognisance of a media report stating that 19 CRPF personnel had died by suicide in less than five months, between January and May 2026.The Commission observed that the reported deaths, if true, raised serious concerns about the right to life of personnel serving in the country’s largest Central Armed Police Force. It issued notices to the Union Home Secretary and the CRPF Director General, seeking detailed reports on the matter.According to the media report published on August 11, a total of 281 CRPF personnel died by suicide over the previous five years, of whom around 216 were on duty.The force recorded 57 suicides in 2021, 43 in 2022, 57 in 2023, 46 in 2024 and 59 in 2025. The 59 deaths recorded last year were reportedly the highest annual toll from suicides in the five-year period.
