BENGALURU: While men in khaki have always been looked upon as extortionists, collecting mamool and seen harassing those in need of help, there are some who lead by example and help reaffirm the faith of people in the city police department.
When heavy rains lashed the city on Saturday evening forcing people to run for cover, Asifulla Ashrafi, a constable currently posted with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Command Centre), Nagendra Kumar, in the GPS and Media Monitoring Section, went beyond his call of duty when he saw a blind man struggling to find his way amid the heavy rains near Vidhana Soudha.
While others chose to ignore the blind man, Mr Ashrafi stopped his bike and walked up to the man to offer help. “I was returning home after work when I noticed a blind man struggling to find his way. He was neither walking on the footpath nor on the road. It was raining heavily. The man was drenched and had nothing to cover himself. I parked my bike by the roadside and walked upto him to know if he needed help,” said Asifulla Ashrafi to Deccan Chronicle.
He further said, “The man told me that he wanted to go to the city railway station as he has a train to board to go to Kerala. When I asked him from where he was coming, I was shocked to learn that he was walking from Yelahanka to his destination. He had walked nearly 20 kilometres. I asked him to sit on my bike and dropped him at the railway station to make sure he reached on time.”
On their way to the railway station Mr. Ashrafi learnt that the man was Ramesh, who hailed from Kerala and was pursuing his studies in Bengaluru. But, little did he know that the man was also on a mission. “After reaching the railway station, I checked his tickets and learnt that his train would depart from platform number 2. I couldn’t help but ask him why he was going to Kerala and his answer left me speechless. He told me that he regularly visits an orphanage where he teaches poor children free of cost. But he was worried as he did not have money to buy books for his final year course. Moved by his plight, I gave him some money to buy books,” added Mr. Ashrafi.
