Brave Bangalore constable on the path to recovery

A police constable, who was injured while saving a woman from robbers, has been advised two months rest by doctors.

Venugopal, 26, was hurt while grapping with one of the two armed robbers, who had been threatening to murder a fashion designer, Vasundhara, 25, at her house in HSR Layout on August 13.

The constable’s brave act saved the woman.

Though he was discharged from hospital, the constable expressed fear that the injury might affect the mobility of his wrist.
Inspector LY Rajesh of HSR Layout police station said his men had gone to the woman’s house on 31st Main after getting information about the robbery. When they reached her house, they found the robbers were about to stab her.

“Fortunately, we reached the spot on time and rescued her. It was the constable, who grappled and overpowered one of the burglars, and prevented any heinous crime from taking place,” the inspector said.

One of the robbers stabbed Venugopal on his wrist, as the policeman tried to rescue the woman. Though injured, the tough constable refused to loosen his grip on the robber, and with the help of a sub-inspector in the team, disarmed and secured the assailant.

Later at the St John’s Hospital, it was found that the robber had damaged the nerves in Venugopal’s left wrist. He was hospitalised for a week, before he was sent home. He is now advised to take rest so that the nerves would heal.

The robber who had stabbed Venugopal was later identified as Arjun, 20. He had been employed as a cook in Vasundhara’s house since a month ago. The accused, a native of Bihar, had been watching the household, with the intention of returning to his native state after robbing the family.

Arjun decided to strike on August 13. He knew that Vasundhara’s mother would be in Visakhapatnam, and her brother, Siddarth, a lawyer, would be returning home late. The woman’s father has been working in Kuwait.

The accused roped in his friend Ravi, 22, to commit the crime. But his plans went awry when Vasundhara managed to inform her brother over the phone about the robbery. Siddarth alerted the HSR Layout police, who immediately swung into action. 

Police said the robbers attacked them to escape arrest, but failed. Both of them were arrested. Investigators were suspecting that Arjun joined as a cook with the sole intention of robbing the family.

The city police commissioner, Shankar M Bidari, presented Venugopal a cash award of Rs5,000 for his brave act, besides Rs20,000 to meet his medical expenses. The constable has been treated under the Arogya Bhagya scheme.