A cop in Karnataka has been dubbed as the ‘Pied Piper of the Police Department’. Chandrakant Hutgi, the head constable at Hubli rural police station has transformed his lathi (cane) into a flute and grabbed all of the Internet’s attention by playing it. A video on Twitter shows Hutgi in action and it’s going all kinds of viral.
The clip was posted on Twitter by Bhaskar Rao, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Karnataka. “Chandrakant Hutgi, Head Constable from Hubli Rural Police station has converted his Deadly Fiber Lathi into a Musical Instrument... we are proud of him...” he tweeted.
Hutgi had been invited to Bengaluru by Rao and the latter even presented him with a special cash award.
{{/usCountry}}Hutgi had been invited to Bengaluru by Rao and the latter even presented him with a special cash award.
{{/usCountry}}“Rao called me to Bengaluru on Monday with the musical lathi to play for him in his office after he heard from his colleagues that I converted it into a flute. He also rewarded me,” Hutgi told IANS.
Soon after the video was shared online, it went viral on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. On Twitter, the video has collected over 8,000 ‘likes’ and more than 2,000 retweets in one day. People have been pouring in praise for the cop for his special talent and skills.
“Since the video clip went viral earlier in the day, I have been getting calls from colleagues, friends and relatives and congratulatory messages,” said Hutgi.
For him, both making musical instruments and playing them is a hobby. He used local tools to drill eight holes into the lathi in order to transform it into the musical instrument back when he was on security duty at Dattapeetha shrine in Chikmagalur’s Baba Budangiri hills for a week in December 2017. He now plays folk songs and even Kannada film songs on it when free from work.
“To kill boredom or break monotony, I play the flute and entertain my colleagues after duty hours. My seniors asked me to play the flute on May 23 after vote count at the Dharwad counting centre,” recalled Hutgi.
(With inputs from IANS)