In MP, cop walks 450 km to join duty

■ Divijay Sharma spent 3 nights under open sky during 60-hour journey

A young cop of Madhya Pradesh has braved sickness, hunger and 60-hourarduous journey to join his duty to “serve” the people through the coronavirus pandemic.

Twenty two years old Digvijay Sharma, a constable posted in Pachori police station in Rajgarh district, had travelled 450 km by walking and as a pillion rider in two wheelers alternately to report to his duty late in the night of

March 29, amid lockdown.

“I set out from my village of Besolighat in Etawa district in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of March 25. I had to walk nearly 40 km before being given a lift in a bike to reach a village situated in the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border in the afternoon.

“I then resumed my journey in a dumper to reach another village where I spent the first night of my journey under open sky,” Mr Sharma told this newspaper on Monday. nationwide

Digvijay Sharma

Mr Sharma, who had taken leave to visit his village on March 16 to appear his BA final year examination, continued his journey over next two days in a similar manner to reach his place of posting.

Mr Sharma whose diet during the journey was mostly biscuits and fruits had suffered sore muscle in the middle of his journey. However, he did not give up and resumed his journey to reach Pachori in the night of March 27.

“My parents had dissuaded me from leaving the village during the period of lockdown. Even my senior had also advised me against setting out on my journey to join the duty. But, I strongly felt that I need to serve the people at the crucial juncture and hence, I left for Pachori,”

Mr Sharma, who joined MP police force on June one, 2018, said.

The cop who ran kilometers together during his journey recounted how he had come across thousands of migrant workers who were returning to their villages in different parts of Madhya Pradesh on foot and also in trucks plying in the route.

Rajgarh district superintendent of police, Pradeep Sharma, has presented letter of appreciation to the cop for his dedication to his work after learning about his “heroic” deed.