Cop chased robbers even as he bled to death

NEW DELHI: Life was rapidly draining out of Anand Singh but that didn’t bother the Delhi Police constable.

NEW DELHI: Life was rapidly draining out of Anand Singh but that didn’t bother the Delhi Police constable.

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He chased three bike-borne robbers in outer Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy on foot and managed to hold onto two of them before being dragged for 50 metres — all this with blood gushing out of his mouth and two bullets wounds in his chest. The 48-year-old had to ultimately let go as life ebbed out of him.

His colleagues say he always wanted to win a bravery award, and on Friday night Singh died a hero.

Posted at the Shahbad Dairy police station, he was on patrol duty when he heard a woman scream. Three men on a motorcycle, their faces covered with helmets, were trying to rob the woman, who runs a shop in the area.

Singh ran to the spot and caught hold of two of the men. One of them removed his helmet and attacked Singh with it. As the constable was trying to fight him off — all the while holding onto the other robber — he was shot twice in the chest.

“Two bullets hit Singh. He did not fall and held onto the robbers. The rider sped away and the constable was dragged for over 50 meters till he collapsed. He was bleeding profusely,” a witness said.

As locals started attending to Singh and informed the police control room, the robbers fled on their bike. The constable was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead.

Singh, a resident of Jati Kalan village in Haryana’s Sonipat, is survived by his mother, wife and two children — a daughter and a son.

The Delhi government has announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for his family, while the Delhi Police said a family member will get a job in the force. “It is a very unfortunate incident. The police department today lost an honest official. We have asked the woman who Singh tried to help to give a detailed description of the bikers, which will help us identify them at the earliest,” DCP (Outer) Vikramjeet Singh said. He said the force would soon announce compensation for the family.