On April 11, a 47-year-old Bengaluru cop named S Kumaraswamy travelled a whopping 430 km from Bengaluru to Dharawad in Karnataka to deliver life-saving drugs for a cancer patient named Umesh. The Police Head Constable who has now been felicitated by Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, travelled another 430 km back home on the same day, totalling 860 km for both trips.

Kudos to Shri. S. Kumaraswamy, Head Constable who travelled solo on bike from Bengaluru to Dharawad traversing 430 kms to provide life saving medication for a cancer patient.@CPBlr appreciated his good deed. pic.twitter.com/BSJm6caRie — BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) April 16, 2020

The Bengaluru cop was watching a local news channel the previous day when he learnt that a cancer patient was in urgent need of a life-saving drug that was only available at DS Research Centre in Indiranagar in Bengaluru. Due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, they were unable to get the medicine from Bengaluru. Following his morning shift, Kumarswamy reached out to the news channel and gathered information about the patient.

The Journey

He collected the medicine and sought the permission of his senior before embarking on a tedious journey of 430 km to Dharwad. His family members were opposed to the decision but Kumaraswamy was determined. On April 11 at 4 am in the wee hours of the morning, he left for the house of the cancer patient on his Honda Activa with one bottle of water and a few packets of biscuits.

On seeing him, Umesh and his family members were shocked. He then began his journey back home and reached Chitradurga at 10:30 p.m. in the night. He was tired and slept at a fire station office. Kumaraswamy resumed his journey to Bengaluru at 5:30 am on April 13 and reached Bengaluru by 10:30 am.

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“I have no connection with that place. I am from Ramanagara. I just felt like helping. When I went to Umesh’s house, I realised they were indeed in need of it. He has to take it for two years continuously and it is curable”, the Bengaluru cop was quoted as saying.

Police Personnel under Attack

Despite their efforts to implement social distancing guidelines to safeguard public health and safety, amidst the nationwide lockdown, cops have repeatedly come under attack from lockdown violators. On March 25, two men, Kutubuddin and Tajuddin, who had brutally thrashed two policemen for stopping them for breaching a check post during the nationwide lockdown, have been arrested by the Bengaluru police on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the accused were over-speeding and performing stunts on bikes during the lockdown. They had breached the check post at Bhoopasandra, Sanjay Nagar in Bengaluru. When the cops tried to catch the two accused, they had assaulted the two policemen Manjunatha and Basavararaju.

On April 9, a group of 5 men, including one minor haad assaulted police officers at Annabhau Sathe junction near the District Collector’s office in the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. When the cops stopped a two-wheeler for persons going triple-seat, the trio began arguing with the police. They were soon joined by two other friends.

When one accused began heckling a police officer, he retaliated by hitting the accused with his baton. The perpetrator then snatched the stick and resorted to brutally assaulting the cop. The other accused too joined in the scuffle and began assaulting the policemen standing at the scene. A police case was registered against the four men and a minor for violating lockdown and assaulting a police officer on duty. The accused, excluding the minor, have been identified as Shaikh Farookh Shaikh Kadar, Shaikh Sharukh Shaikh Farookh, Shaikh Sajid Shaikh Farookh, and Shaikh Sameer Shaihkh Salim.

In another shocking incident on Sunday in Patiala, Punjab, a group of ‘Nihangs’ (Sikhs armed with traditional weapons and dressed in loose blue top) injured two police officers and the chopped-off hand of another police officer at Sabzi Mandi, Patiala.