By Anand Singh New Delhi, Jan 25 : For Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Mahesh Bhardwaj, it was hard to believe that he has been selected for the President's medal for the distinguished services, as he completed six years of President's medal for the Meritorious services this year. Bhardwaj's name was announced earlier in the day by the government for the President's Medal for the Distinguished services on the occasion of Republic Day 2021. Bhardwaj, is currently deputed in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) police officers after orders from the Supreme Court in 2018 to probe the extra-judicial killings in the state of Manipur. Speaking to IANS, Bhardwaj who is deputed as Senior Superintendent of Police in the CBI to probe extrajudicial killings in Manipur, said, "I had got the President's medal for meritorious service in January 2015. And just now as I complete the six-year gap between the two medals, I've been selected for the President's Medal for distinguished service." Bhardwaj had joined the Delhi Police as Assistant Commissioner in the year 1993 and has worked extensively with United Nations Police, Andaman Nicobar and Mizoram police, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He said that it was hard for him believe that he was selected for the highest award of the police. In his message to other IPS officers, he said, "All officers in the police should work hard to get these medals." He said the President's medal for the distinguished services are the top medals for the police officers working across the country. "And I believe every police officer should try their best to get these," he added. Bhardwaj was deputed in the CBI from the NHRC in February 2018 on the direction of Supreme Court to associate with the investigation of alleged extra-judicial killings and human rights violations by security forces in Manipur. According to sources, the investigation in most of the extra-judicial killing cases are coming to closure in the next couple of months. Bhardwaj, during his stint as DCP Traffic in Delhi, undertook various road engineering, road safety and traffic awareness initiatives to improve traffic discipline in the trans-Yamuna area, which helped in reducing traffic accidents significantly. He also supervised traffic arrangements efficiently for the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and while posted as DCP Supreme Court Security, successfully dealt with diverse security issues and hazards arising due to heavy movement of litigants, lawyers etc in the court. He also adopted several measures to strengthen the security of apex court in consultation with Court Registry and Bar Association. In NHRC, besides regular investigation work, Bhardwaj has conducted spot enquiries and visited detention centres in Assam, set up for illegal immigrants. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) /IANS