Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar honoured traffic cop Muthuraj on the spot.
Rain or shine, there's no stopping when duty calls. A traffic cop in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district, who stood amid heavy rain for four hours to manage traffic at one of the busiest roads in the district, has earned huge praise for his persistence. A video of the traffic cop - Constable Muthuraj - performing his duty, undeterred by the downpour, won many hearts on the internet.
On Monday, he stood for about four hours in heavy rain to ensure that the traffic movement was not disrupted at the busy VVD junction in the southern city, about 600 km from state capital Chennai.
In a nearly one-minute long clip, he can be seen in a raincoat standing at the junction.
Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar saw the video, and sprang a surprise; he drove to the spot and honoured the traffic cop with a gift.
"I wanted to recognise his sense of duty in that difficult situation," the senior police officer told NDTV.
The 34-year-old Grade-I Constable, a graduate and a sportsman, was touched by S Jeyakumar's gesture.
"I am so happy and proud that he took out time to honour me on the spot. Normally police personnel are honoured only at the SP's office. I should also thank my Reserve Police Inspector who's a motivation," Mr Muthuraj said.
When asked what prompted him to do that, he said: "Its my job. I was particularly concerned about two wheeler riders. They'd get completely drenched when they wait at traffic signals. So I had turned off the signal and manually regulated so it would be slightly easy for them."
His wife Sivaranjani, recalling how she felt on watching the video, said: "I felt very proud of him. He is always perfect when it comes to work". The couple have a daughter and a son.