Mumbai: The Indian Merchant Chamber (IMC) on Friday acknowledged 12 Mumbai Police officers who did extraordinary work in their line of duty to make the city safer. The award ceremony was graced by Commissioner of Police (CP) Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, Deven Bharti, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) along with other top rank police officials. The year 2017 saw many challenging situations ahead of the Mumbai Police, but never did the police force back down from their duty. Mumbai CP Jaiswal said, “The force is truly humbled by the wonderful gesture by IMC. We are grateful that our men’s efforts are recognised.
The Mumbai Police too honours the good deeds and excellent work done by our personnel every month during crime conferences.” While some officers went out of their way to help the citizens, some put their service towards the force before their lives. One of those felicitated at this event was constable Sudarshan Shinde, who put his life at stake to save some of those trapped in the Kamala Mills fire that claimed 14 lives on December 29 in 2017. Shinde, who was on patrolling duty nearby, rushed to the spot on getting information about the mishap.
He said, “After I reached the spot, I saw some persons trapped inside the pub, we broke the emergency exit door and went inside without any fire protective gear. When I reached upstairs, everything was burnt and charred. Me and a few fire officials managed to rescue eight unconscious people by pulling them out on our shoulders.” Another brave police personnel who was felicitated on Friday was Ajay Prabhakar Gawand, 43. He was severely injured in a bid to catch a thief who had entered a building at P. D’mello Road in Dongri.
Later, Gawand succumbed to the injuries during treatment. Post Gawand’s death, his wife, Swati, was given a government job in the Pune Police’s clerical department. Swati Gawand said, “My husband’s death did not go in vain as the criminal was apprehended. My son, Harsh, having lost his father at the age of eight years, aspires to be as brave as his father and join the Indian Army.” Concluding the event, Raj Nair, President IMC said “As citizens we are completely dependent on the police force for our safety and security. This is a platform where we can convey our gratitude towards the real life heroes.”