Bhubaneswar: Doing security duty during the Men’s World Hockey League Finals (HWLF) can be dangerous too. Well policeman Bhagirathi Naik from Bidanasi at the Kalinga Stadium here learnt it the hard way, Thursday.
Baghirathi suffered a serious head injury when a powerful strike by Juan Lopez of Argentina from inside the England ‘D’ bounced off the advertisement boards and hit him. It was a freak accident and Bhagirathi did not have any chance to react as he was busy monitoring crowd movement. Bhagirathi was lucky, a few inches lower, the ball could have crashed into his right eye and keeping in mind the force with which the ball was hit, it could have damaged his vision permanently.
A profusely bleeding Bhagirathi was immediately attended to by other colleagues on duty. He was led off the field and rushed to the hospital. Local organising officials said that Bhagirathi has received stitches on his head. “The wound has been attended to and he is in stable condition now,” an official stated. He also informed that other precautionary steps to monitor the well-being of the policeman have also been taken.
Argentina players and officials also enquired about the condition of the security personnel. They looked relieved when they came to know that Bhagirathi has received medical treatment and in stable condition.