New Delhi: In what was just a physical test for recruitment of police constables, an aspiring candidate ran so fast that he almost equaled the national record.
The result of the drill organized in Sriganganagar district in Rajasthan on March 26 left the officials stunned when a 24-year-old completed the course in almost half the time as they were needed to cover the distance in one hour to pass.
Being a laborer, Sandip Acharya who hails from Kihanpura Uttarada village Hanumangarh district crossed the line in just 33 minutes, which is nearly as good as the national record. Senior police officers conducting the tests made him run another 1.5 km, which he did in four minutes.
According to a report publish in Times of India, Sandip who ran without proper gear, was not even aware that his finish time is hot on trail of the national record.
Athlete Surendra Singh, who runs in state-of-the-art running shoes on synthetic tracks, holds the Indian 10,000m record of 28 minutes and 2 seconds. He did so in Vigo, Spain, on July 12, 2008. Kashinath Aswale has the national 10 km road record of 29:43 minutes.
If he had proper training facilities and accessories, he would have finished the race few minutes before and the national record could have been broken.
And yet, Sandip may not make it to the police. That's because he didn't apply under sports quota. "Had Sandip applied under sports quota, he would have been selected for sure. But because he didn't, we can't say if he would be selected," said IGP Bikaner, Girdhari Lal Sharma.
Sandip and his father are labourers. He dropped out of school after completing secondary education. As the family couldn't afford sending him to school, he graduated through correspondence. He never trained for running or followed a dietary regime.
