LUCKNOW: It was a pleasant surprise in an envelope for Inspector General of Police (Agra Range) A Satish Ganesh as he opened it to find an appreciation letter and a cheque of Rs 500 sent to him, not by his bosses, but a common man through post.
The officer was rummaging through his routine mails on Thursday when he stumbled upon an envelope titled "Prashansha Praman Patra" (certificate of appreciation). As he opened it, there was a letter and a cheque in it.
The letter, sent by Vijay Pal Singh of Etah, lauded the 1996-batch IPS officer - A Satish Ganesh - for his style of work. It also cited an incident when he posed as a colonel and went to the Highway police station in Mathura to lodge an FIR for laptop theft to check police response.
"It is commonly seen that policemen hesitate in registering FIRs for the poor and insult them. I am happy with your working style and am enclosing a cheque for Rs 500 with this letter," Singh said in the letter.
Feeling elated and emotional over the letter of appreciation, the highly decorated cop called it the best compliment and accolade a police officer could receive.
"In my 23 years of policing career, I have received many medals, awards and letters of appreciation. But this is ultimate. This is the best ever accolade a police officer can get. It is worth its weight in gold," Ganesh said while talking to media persons.
"These little gestures of the public, whom I serve, motivate me to work tirelessly...," said the IG, adding that he would keep both the letter and cheque for posterity.