Cop turns lathi into flute to play folk songs

Hubballi: A video of a head constable playing folk songs with the flute made out of his fiber-made lathi is doing rounds on social media platform.

Chandrakant Hutgi, a head constable from Hubballi Rural police station has converted his deadly fiber lathi into a musical instrument to play folk songs as a hobby.

Hutgi had started to play the flute and entertain his colleagues after duty hours to kill boredom or break the monotony, informed sources.

Hutgi’s skill and artistic talent earned him recognition from the state police department and a special cash award (inam) from Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Bhaskar Rao in Bengaluru.

Speaking on the issue Hutgi said “Rao called me to Bengaluru on Monday with the musical lathi and play for him in his office after he heard from his colleagues at Hubballi that I converted it into a flute. He also rewarded me.”

Using local tools, Hutgi skillfully drilled eight holes into the lathi, including one for blowing air, six for playing his fingers and another smaller outlet to let out the air.

“Chandrakant Hutgi, a head constable from Hubli Rural police station has converted his deadly fiber lathi into a musical instrument… we are proud of him,” tweeted Rao after recording video of a folk song Hutgi played in his office here.

Soon after Rao posted the video clip on the social media – his Facebook and Twitter handle – Hutgi’s skill and musical talent went viral. The video was also circulated on Whatsapp by his colleagues.