For 35-year-old Jagdish HC, a para-badminton player who had arrived in the city a week back to compete in a tournament in the capital, his badminton bag meant everything. Besides his various identity cards, it contained a gold medal he had won recently at a tournament in UP along with documents needed to participate in the Delhi event on Tuesday. However, he was left crestfallen the evening before the event when he realised that he had left his bag inside an autorickshaw. But thanks to proactive efforts on part of the police as well as the auto driver, Jagdish was able to get his bag the same night, a few hours before the event held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Tuesday. On Monday evening, Jagdish, a Bengaluru resident, along with his four team members, decided to visit the Red Fort around 6pm and took an auto to the monument. Around 15 minutes after deboarding the vehicle, he realised that he had left his bag in the vehicle. Jagdish told The Indian Express, “I was tense as the bag not only contained important documents and tournament certificates but also a gold medal I had won at a tournament recently. it was a result of 13 years of hard work, of participating in 40 tournaments of which I won a majority.” Jagdish's team members promptly rushed to the Red Fort police post for help. Said DCP (North) Manoj Kumar Meena, “The whole team of para badminton players arrived at the police post for immediate help since the medals are priceless to the players.the matter was brought to the knowledge of senior officers.” A police team comprising Sub-Inspector Satender Singh, in-charge of Red Fort Police Post, and Head Constable Than Singh was formed by senior officers to search for the missing bag. As many as 150 CCTV cameras installed around the area were scanned in search of the auto, which dropped off the five players at the Red Fort. In one of the cameras, the auto was spotted. The route of the auto was reconstructed and the vehicle was seen heading towards Loni, Ghaziabad. “The auto driver who had dropped the players had given the vehicle to another driver. The latter spotted the bag kept on the back seat .he then checked the identity card and contacted Jagdish,” said an officer. Head Constable Singh rushed to Loni to collect the bag. Said Jagdish, “With every hour, I was becoming more anxious as Tuesday's tournament depended on the bag. It had all the documents and certificates which I had to show to the tournament organisers to compete in the event.” As the cop returned with his bag, Jagdish and teammates' joy knew no bounds. They were seen profusely thanking Singh as they checked their bags to ensure all documents were safe. And in a sort of sweet ending, the five-member team, some of whom are from Maharashtra, ended up winning a medal at the tournament the next day. Vijay Nikam, Jagdish's team member, said, “We are grateful to the Delhi Police and the auto driver. Had the bag not been recovered, Jagdish would not have been able to compete in the tournament.”
