The boy’s parents had lost him in the crowd
On Sunday afternoon, head constable Narendra Malik was patrolling the area around India Gate when he noticed a toddler topple inside the pond. Within seconds, the policeman jumped inside and rescued the child.
The boy, Khel Ram, had come to the monument with his parents and elder sister. He was playing at the South Fountain Canal, near Amar Jawan Jyoti, when he fell in. “There were people nearby but no one noticed the child struggling in the water. I immediately jumped in. The pond is just three feet but it was deep enough for the one-and-a-half-year-old,” said Malik .
Malik said he performed CPR on the child. “When he regained consciousness, I asked him about his parents. By then, his family saw the crowd near the fountain and rushed to the spot,” he said.
SHO of Tilak Marg Police Station, Naresh Solanki, who reached the spot after the incident, said, “The parents said they lost him in the crowd and did not notice him fall inside the pond.”
The SHO said he will recommend Malik for a reward for his quick and timely action.
The head constable had received the Asadhran Karya Puraskar (AKP) twice — once for providing an input in the December 2012 gangrape case, and for arresting a domestic help who kidnapped a boy. Malik joined the force in 1990.