Cop Runs a Kilometre with 10 kg Bomb On his Shoulder to Save 400 Schoolchildren

On August 2017, the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district received a call about the presence of a bomb inside a school in Chitora village.

Reaching the school, the policemen realized that curiosity over the object had drawn a huge crowd to the school. 32-year-old head constable Abhishek Patel was among the first to step in to investigate and what he saw absolutely terrified him.

The huge object in the school was a live shell which could detonate at any second, the blast radius of which could destroy the entire school as well as the nearby populated neighbourhood, he realized. Things got worse for him as the bomb dispatch informed him that they would not arrive for at least an hour and so he had to evacuate as much of the area as possible.

With the lives of hundreds of villagers and over 400 schoolchildren at stake, Patel realized that there was not enough time to get everyone to safety. The decision he took stunned even the two policemen beside him.

In seconds, Patel placed the 10 kg bomb on his shoulder and began sprinting away from the school even as his fellow officers started to guide the huge crowd in the opposite direction.

“I was scared to death. But it was about risking one life as opposed to risking hundreds. I know I did the right thing.”

- Abhishek Patel

The policeman ran as fast as he could, carrying the 10 kg bomb for a kilometre in 15 minutes until he reached an empty field. Gasping for breath, he gently placed the explosive on the ground before running away. The bomb squad arrived in due time and secured the device without it detonating.

Abhishek Patel’s brave act that morning saved the lives of the children and received national applause though he admits his wife (and mother of his two children) was hysterical when she met him later that evening.

“Didn’t the faces of your children flash in front of your eyes before you picked up that bomb?” she had asked him. Patel’s reply was simple. “It is when I looked at the faces of hundreds of children in the school that I decided to do it.”

You can watch the police officer run away with the bomb and speak about his experience here:

Author's note:

Since 2017, every year, I take up the #BlogchatterA2Z challenge and focus on showcasing lovely real-life heroes from around the world. The aim is to remind you that there is still plenty of good human beings all around you... to inspire you to smile once more.

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