A policeman in Chitora village of Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh risked his life to save close to 400 children on Friday morning after a bomb was discovered within the premise of the school in which the children were studying, reported TOI. The policeman, Head Constable Abhishek Patel told media persons that he wanted to take the bomb as far away from the school as possible in order to not endanger the lives of the children or locals residing in the area. Patel said ”I wanted to take the bomb away from the school and the residential area in order to reduce the danger of collateral damage in case the bomb exploded”. It is not clear who called the police, but the police reached the site soon after a call was made. Ajay Kumar, a teacher at the school, said that the police asked the school authorities to close the establishment early for the day, he said ”Soon after the police arrived they asked us to shut the school. We shut the school a couple of hours early,” according to a Times of India report.
Basant Kumar, a student at the school said, ”Teachers asked us to leave the school premises a few hours early as there was a bomb on the school premises”. Head Constable Abhishek Patel later told reporters that this was not the first time he had found a bomb.
Patel said, ”Had the bomb exploded it would have caused damage in a 500-meter area. I was afraid that the bomb may explode so I took it away from the populated area”. Satish Saxena, IG Sagar Range, said that Patel would be rewarded for displaying exemplary courage. The IG also added that there is an army range close to the village and that the police would investigate how the bomb reached the village, according to the report.
