Video of brave policeman running a kilometre with a 10kg bomb in his hands goes viral

A policeman has become the talk of the town after a video clip showing him running with a 10kg bomb in his hands went viral. The incident was reported from the north Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Friday (25 August).

It all started when a bomb was found in the premises of a school with 400 children and someone dialled emergency services. A senior teacher of the school, Ajay Kumar, said the police responded immediately and asked "us to close for the day, almost two hours early. We asked the students to leave at once".

As soon as the news spread, media persons came to cover the story. In the commotion that ensued, the bomb was left unattended. That was when head constable Abhishek Patel picked up the heavy explosive, tucked it under his arms and ran for almost a kilometre in the opposite direction of the school.

Journalists were taken by surprise and one person somehow managed to take a quick video of Patel sprinting with the bomb. In the footage, Patel can be seen leaping over boulders and bushes and disappearing into the distance, bomb in hand.

"My only objective was to take it away as far from the children as possible. Far away from all residential areas," Patel told reporters after successfully disposing the bomb outside the Chitora village of Sagar district of the state.

The policeman said that some months ago he was part of a police operation when a similar bomb was spotted.

"Had it exploded, we were told, it would have damaged a radius of 500 meters. I was afraid it would blow up and decided to take it as far away as possible," he said.

"There is an Army shooting range near the village. The Army was informed about the bomb. How it reached there and who placed it near the school is being investigated," Inspector General of Police Sagar Satish Saxena said. He added that a reward for Patel for showing exemplary courage has been announced.