A police officer in India is being praised as a true hero. The man possibly saved the lives of more than 400 school children when he carried a live bomb that weighed more than 22 pounds for over a kilometer, which is roughly 0.6 miles.
Abhishek Patel, the 40-year-old police officer in question, didn’t hesitate for a second when he realized the lives of hundreds of school children were in peril. The explosive device was found near a school playground in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in the center of India.
A bomb squad wasn’t available right away to take care of the explosive, so the man decided to take matters into his own bare hands, literally.
Since no bomb squads were immediately available, he grabbed the bomb himself and sprinted away to a safer location where no others would be at risk.
“We got the information from Dial 100. Since it was a residential area and a school compound, my only aim was to carry the bomb as far away as possible from there,” the police officer later said to the local press. “We have learned during our training that had it exploded, it would have damaged 500 meters [0.31 miles] of the surrounding area.”
At the moment, it remains unclear how the bomb managed to get in the vicinity of the school. A photograph of the explosive device was made public, and it looks like an older, albeit dangerous shell. It was around 12 inches in size. A similar type of bomb was found in another Indian village and authorities are investigating if both incidents are linked.
As for Abhishek, he says getting the bomb away from the children was the best feeling in his life.
“It has been the best feeling in my life to date. After running for nearly 800 metres and throwing the artillery shell at a deserted place, the relieved students who were earlier scared, met me and thanked me,” Abhishek recalls. “A senior teacher of the school also expressed his gratitude for saving nearly 400 children in his school.”
Someone captured some footage of the police officer carrying the bomb away, which quickly went viral in India and across the world.
Representative Ashok Gehlot from the All India Congress Committee has nothing but praise for the brave man.
“Head Constable Abhishek Patel has shown [a] great sense of duty and courage by carrying away a bomb found in a school. Patel and his entire unit, who rushed to save children deserve our applause.”
As a reward, the police officer was given a monetary prize of 50,000 INR, which roughly equates to 780 American dollars. The live bomb was safely defused shortly after its discovery.
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