BENGALURU: Clad in police uniform and a gun hanging from the holster, 12-year-old Shashank, a thalassemia and diabetic patient, took 'charge' as a police inspector of V.V. Puram police station for a day on Tuesday. Shashank stepped out of the police jeep in style, holding the dummy gun in one hand, and received a salute before he entered his cabin in the police station and also a bouquet from V.V. Puram Inspector T.D. Raju. The inspector took the boy around the station and also to the rifle room where the boy spent some time touching and inquiring about the rifles.
A resident of Narayanahalli in Chintamani taluk, Shashank is suffering from thalassaemia and diabetes since he was five months old. He is undergoing treatment at Vani Vilas Hospital. Son of Muniraju and Sujatha, Shashank always dreamt of becoming a police officer and take strict action against criminals. Asked why he wanted to a become police officer, Shashank said that he was fed up with the nuisance created by those under the influence of alcohol. "These alcoholics creating nuisance in public should be dealt with iron hand. They are a threat to society," Shashank told DCP (South) S.D. Sharanappa when he met him in his office. Shashank went to the DCP's office in the police jeep along with Mr Raju.
Shashank's memorable day would not have been possible without a city-based NGO Make-A-Wish. The NGO's volunteers Netra and Sangeetha recently met Shashank in the hospital and asked him what he would like to become in future.
When Shashank told them that he wanted to be a police officer, the volunteers approached Mr Sharanappa and conveyed the boy's wish. Shashank was gifted with toy walkie-talkie and a toy gun and was dropped at the Vani Vilas Hospital later in the day. Thalassemia is a blood disorder involving lower-than-normal amounts of an oxygen-carrying protein. He is also suffering from diabetes which is worsening his health condition.
