With bomb on shoulder, MP cop sprints 1-km to save school kids

Bhopal : A policeman ran with a 10-kg artillery shell, found at a school in Chitora village of Sagar district, for about a kilometre to save the lives of 400 students, officials said today. Head constable Abhishek Patel, posted at Surkhi police station in Sagar district, was honoured by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan this morning as a video of the cop’s action went viral on the social media.

A state public relations department official said the incident had taken place on August 25. An anonymous caller informed the ‘Dial -100’ service of the state police at around 12.50 pm on August 25 that an unexploded artillery shell was lying in the backyard of the Middle School at Chitora village of Sagar district, the official said.

After reaching the spot, Patel got the school evacuated, as over 400 students were present there at that time. In the meantime, he picked up the shell, weighing around 10 kilograms, and ran for about a kilometre before dumping it into a nullah, the official added.

The army personnel of Mahar Regiment Centre at Sagar finally defused the shell on Sunday. The Madhya Pradesh government today presented a cash reward of Rs 50,000 to Patel here for his brave act. “Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan honoured the constable this morning with the cash prize at the CM’s residence in the state capital,” the official said.

R S Bagir, in-charge of Surkhi police station, under whose jurisdiction the school is located, said it is yet to be confirmed from where the shell reached the school. “It is not yet known from where it landed in the school backyard. This was an unexploded and old. It is possible that a villager might have brought it from a nearby army shooting range. We are investigating it,” Bagri said.