Raipur police put up billboards with pictures of 'good samaritans' who help accident victims

Raipur: The Raipur police in Chhattisgarh have launched a novel initiative to put up billboards with pictures of persons who help road accident victims and reward them for their good work.

Under the initiative, aimed at motivating people to help accident victims, one such billboard has been put up in front of the Raipur collectorate having pictures of six 'good samaritans' with descriptions of the incidents in which they provided assistance.

The billboard carries the message: 'Bheed ka hissa na bane, ghaylon ki madad kar nek insaan bane' (don't become part of the crowd, help the injured and become a good human being).

Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh, who came up with this idea, told PTI on Wednesday that there is a misconception among people that it is risky to help accident victims and they will be entangled in legal proceedings.

Around 1.5 lakh persons die every year in road accidents in the country and the main reason is lack of prompt medical treatment to the injured persons, he said.

The first 30-minute duration after a road accident is considered the 'golden hour' as if the injured person gets medical treatment during this period, then his/her life can be saved, the official said.

In most of the road accidents nowadays, it has been seen people make videos and click photos from their mobile phones but avoid helping the victims, he said.

The initiative has been launched to clear the misconception and motivate people to help accident victims, the official said.

The traffic police in Raipur district have been directed to identify 'good samaritans' who have worked to prevent road accidents and helped to provide immediate medical treatment to the victims, and encourage them with a reward, he said.

Singh recently felicitated six such persons with mementoes and citations at the police control room here.

All the police station in-charges in the district have been directed to give maximum publicity to such persons and to raise awareness about helping accident victims, he said.

The first billboard, put up at different places in the state capital as part of the initiative, displays pictures of six persons - Dashrath Sahu, Khileshwar Mahant, Kartik Kumar Nirmalkar, Ravi Kumar Sahu, Govinda Sahani and Parth Vaishnav, all from Raipur district.

Nirmalkar helped two persons after their car fell into a rivulet near Dunda on the outskirts of Raipur on February 11, as per the hoarding.

He immediately called an ambulance and a crane. The two victims were pulled out of the rivulet and shifted to hospital, it added.