ALAPPUZHA: A police officer’s brave act of overpowering a liquor bootlegger despite his hand being slashed with a machete by the latter has gone viral on social media. Many people, including top police officers from across the country, shared the CCTV footage of the movie-like scene. In the attack, the officer suffered deep injuries in his hand requiring seven stitches.
Though V R Arunkumar 37, sub-inspector of Nooranad police station in Alappuzha district, overpowering local resident Sugathan happened on June 12, the video of the scene became public only on Saturday.
Kerala Police chief Anil Kant presented a commendation certificate and trophy to Arunkumar for his brave act in a function held in Thiruvana nthapuram on Monday.
According to Arunkumar, the incident happened in the evening. “Sugathan, 48, of Ellumvilayil at Muthukattukara overtook our vehicle on his scooter and stopped at Para junction. We blocked him. Only the driver was with me then. As I alighted from the jeep, he pulled out a machete from the scooter and took a swipe at my throat.
The attack was unexpected but I managed to block it with my hand. I then caught his hand in which he held the machete and tried to conquer him. We both fell to the ground but I managed to overpower him and wrest the matchet from him. He is in judicial custody now,” said Arunkumar, a native of Malayinkeezhu in Thiruvananthapuram.
A CCTV camera installed in a nearby shop recorded the incident and the video that came out on Saturday went viral. Many people, including police officers, shared the footage on social media platforms.
Swati Lakra, additional DGP (women safety) of Telangana, also shared the footage on Twitter. She wrote on the page, “How a real hero looks like. Kudos to this Sub Inspector of Police from Kerala.”
The footage got more than 7,000 likes, 966 retweets and 1.13 lakh views on Twitter on Saturday itself.
Sugathan was accused in bootlegging cases in the past. Recently, Arunkumar asked him to reach the police station after his brother and family filed a complaint stating that he had been creating issues in the family.
The SI settled the issue amicably but gave Sugathan a warning that if he created a problem again, he would be charged. The warning provoked Sugathan who was planning to teach the officer a lesson. Arunkumar is a 2019 batch sub-inspector though he had joined the force as a constable in 2009. His wife Sreena is an employee in the panchayat department.
TURN OF EVENTS
A CCTV camera installed in a nearby shop recorded the incident and the video that came out on Saturday went viral
Kerala Police chief Anil Kant presents a commendation certificate and trophy to Arunkumar for his brave act