Being a policeman means, you are on duty 24 hours, and battling work hazards that are one too many. The neighbourhood recently saw one such hero, who saved the life of a woman.
Meet, C V Vinoth Kumar (39), a resident of Boat Club, R A Puram and a Head Constable with the Commando Force, Tamilnadu Police, who was recently appreciated by the City Commissioner, for risking his life to nab offenders who tried to rob a woman.
Talk Team caught up with the officer.
Call it being at the right time at the right place, on 19 December, Vinoth Kumar was going to the Ayyappan temple on his two-wheeler, when he saw a woman being slapped and hit by a man.
“It was around 8.30 pm. She was walking on the road near Kutchipudi Bus Stop. There were three men at the scene. One was standing opposite the road on a two-wheeler, where I was coming opposite to him. Another man approached the woman aged around 24 and hit on her neck with the elbow while the third person grabbed her gold chain. They must have assaulted her four to five times. When she fell, one of them snatched her phone. When I tried to stop them, they hit my vehicle. Even though I fell, I grabbed their vehicle, and was subsequently dragged on the road for 20 meters till I managed to push their two-wheeler, causing it to skid,” he narrates.
The men eventually escaped, but Vinoth Kumar despite suffering injuries, asked for a lift and chased them. Simultaneously, he informed the Mandaiveli police station, post which Sub-Inspectors Karthikeyan and Kannadasan took over.
“I was badly injured on my feet, back and thigh and was heavily bleeding,” he says. The same night, the three accused were held, with investigations revealing that more people were involved, making the total number of arrests to seven.
On 21 December, City Commissioner A K Vishwanathan, called Vinoth Kumar to his office and appreciated his efforts. Belonging to the Commando Post, he need not have risked his life, say many. “I could not tolerate a woman getting assaulted. It could have been my sister,” he states.