DANG, June 29: A policeman has displayed unparalleled courage to save the lives of voters from imminent bomb explosion during the second phase of local polls in Dang on Wednesday. 

Head constable Durga Bahadur Rana immediately picked up the bomb hurled by some unidentified group in the polling station and threw it away to save the lives of voters in the polling station based in Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City-3, Dang.

Voting was already underway when the unidentified group pelted a home-made bomb, hiding in a bush above the polling station at Pratapkot Lower Secondary School.  

No sooner did head constable Durga Bahadur Rana saw an object with smoke hurled toward the polling station, the on-duty policeman did have a second thought instead of picking up the object and throwing it away as early as possible.  

The heroic deed of Rana, who risked his own life, not only saved the lives of voters, but also foiled the apparent bid of some anti-poll elements to disrupt the poll. 

"I was arranging queue of the voters. When I realized that the object was nothing but a bomb, I immediate picked it up from the ground and threw it some 25 meters away," Rana recounted. 

The bomb exploded with a big bang seconds after Rana threw it away from the polling station, risking his own life to save others. "I only fulfilled my responsibility," said Rana humbly.

Rana is happy that he could save the lives of voters. "The bombs would have exploded in the polling station itself had I not thrown it away. Luckily, nothing untoward happened to the voters," he further said, while adding that the training he received had given him confidence to take risk of his own life to save others.

Altogether 12 police personnel including six temporary police under the command of an assistant sub-inspector were deployed in the polling station for security. 

The heroic deed of Rana has not only earned praise from local voters, but also from Home Minister Janardan Sharma. While the local voters later felicitated Rana and his colleagues for their heroic deed with garland and vermillion powder, Home Minister Sharma announced to award Rana for his heroic deed. 

Rana, who joined Nepal Police some 16 years ago, is currently posted at Kathmandu-based Police Headquarters. Although he was initially deputed to Rautahat district for the polls, Rana was later sent to Dang after the election in Province 2 was deferred for September 18.

 
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• save voters
 
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