Hyderabad, January 24: Nearly two years after the Park Hospital fire, three policemen including deputy commissioner of police (west zone) Stephen Ravindra, will be presented with the Prime Minister’s Medal for Life Saving for their heroic act in rescuing scores of patients and staff who were trapped in the inferno. Stephen Ravindra, who was Punjagutta police inspector then, M Malla Reddy, currently DSP (CID) after promotion, and constable G Siva Sudhakar Rao were involved in the rescue act. Two other civilians also took part in the heroic act and won accolades.
“At a time when even the fire services personnel were finding it difficult to enter the premises with thick smoke engulfing all the floors, the police officers showed exemplary courage,’ city police commissioner AK Khan said here on Sunday. The policemen entered the second floor of the hospital by scaling the drainage pipe, broke the windowpanes and rescued patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Some of the patients were not in a condition to move while some others were in anaesthesia but they were nevertheless saved by the policemen. The only casualties were two nurses and a patient who died from suffocation.
“Recognising their act, we have sent a proposal to the Centre and it was accepted. The trio will be presented the medal at the All India Police Duty Meet to be held at Nashik in Maharashtra in February,” Khan said.
3 Hyderabad cops to get PM Medal for bravery
This is probably for the first time that policemen from the city, particularly an IPS officer, got the award. Two other policemen, constables Veeraiah of Prakasam and Shaik Mahmood of Vijayawada were also selected for the award for saving people in other incidents in their respective districts. Mahmood, however, died recently. Stephen Ravindra dedicated his achievement to the city police.
——Agencies