Delhi police patrol staff save 22 lives in 24 hours

On Tuesday, personnel of the Delhi Police patrolling van saved the lives of 22 persons in four separate operations. They also arrested four robbers and snatchers in three more such operations between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Three stolen cars and six two-wheelers were also recovered from across the city during this period. Among those whose lives were saved was a biker, who fell off his motorcycle after suffering heart attack; a man who was allegedly depressed and attempted self-immolation; a woman and her three children, whose house caught fire; and 16 policemen, who were trapped in a police bus that caught fire.

Deputy commissioner of police (police control room) Shankar Choudhary said that around 3 pm on Wednesday, head constable Rakesh Kumar and constable Vijaypal were patrolling the streets in Vasant Kunj in a police van when a message flashed on their wireless set regarding a fire at a house on Church Mall Road. The caller, Sunita, told the police control room that she and her three children — who are between the ages of 4 and 10 years — were trapped inside the room. The patrolling staff reached the spot within three minutes and found the woman and her children screaming for help even as the fire was spreading rapidly in the electric meter panel and wooden board, blocking the room’s lone door, an officer said.

“The policemen used their acumen and somehow arranged dry sand even as it was raining outside. They sprinkled the sand over the fire and managed to extinguish it. The two policemen rescued the woman and her three children unhurt,” the officer said.

Around the same time, 16 police personnel from Shahdara district had a narrow escape when a police mini bus they were travelling in caught fire near Rajghat crossing. Three staff of a patrolling van parked nearby responded as soon as they saw the bus, which was on its way to Hauz Qazi, on fire. “One of the patrolling staff had seen a water tanker passing them a couple of minutes before the incident. So he rushed to that direction, spotted the water tanker and brought it to the spot to douse the flames. The occupants of the bus were rescued and several anti-riot gears were also saved from being destroyed,” another police officer said.

An hour later, DCP Choudhary said, head constable Jai Prakash and two constables — Matadeen and Satish — were patrolling the area near Liberty Cinema in Karol Bagh when they were alerted about a biker who had suffered a heart attack. They reached the spot and found the biker unconscious.

“The policemen took him to their van; the head constable gave cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the biker, Raman Kumar, and saved his life. Kumar was then admitted to a nearby hospital for further medical attention,” added Choudhary.

Meanwhile, a police team saved the life of a 23-year-old man who attempted self-immolation in his house in south Delhi’s Adarsh Colony near Fatehpur Beri. The policemen had received information on their wireless set about the incident and reached the house within four minutes, an officer said. “The man had locked himself in the room and set the bedsheet on fire. Our staff broke open the window and entered the room. They first doused the fire by throwing water on the bedsheet and rescued the man. After learning that the man was depressed because he was not getting a job, the policemen counselled him and also promised to help him find a job,” said a senior officer.

Apart from saving the human lives, the police personnel of three separate patrol vans gave chase and caught robbers and snatchers. Around 12.30 am on Wednesday, two robbers – Shivam and Abhishek Chauhan — were chased and caught after they waylaid a businessman by posing as policemen, assaulted him and robbed ₹21,000 from him in outer Delhi’s Rohini Sector-17.

“The robbers were caught in just four minutes after the crime,” said the officer.

In two similar operations, police personnel of two patrol vans also caught Saurabh Goswami and Atiq for allegedly snatching mobile phones in south Delhi’s Rangpuri and Okhla early Wednesday morning.

First Published: Jul 19, 2019 03:30 IST