Heroes: (From left) Kons Puganeswara, Insp Lim and Insp Lee holding the appreciation certificate presented by comm Kumar. — tHOMaS yOnG/the Star
JOHOR BARU: What started out as a typical day quickly turned into an unforgettable experience for a policeman here, who saved two special needs children from a fire.
Kons T. Puganeswara, 26, said he was carrying out his patrolling duty around the Seri Alam area with another policeman when they came across a man frantically waving at them.
“The man looked like he was in distress, so we stopped to talk to him. He told us that his neighbour’s house was on fire,” he recalled.
“We rushed to the scene, where we could see thick smoke coming out of the house.
“It was also in complete darkness and we did not receive any response despite calling out several times, so we thought there was no one inside.
“Luckily, another neighbour alerted us that there were two children who may still be trapped inside,” he said, adding that the two children had Down Syndrome.
Kons Puganeswara immediately sprang into action without a thought for his own safety.
He proceeded to break down the front gate and door of the house to rescue the children while his colleague, Kpl Muhamad Hazra Zainal, went to the back of the house to put out the fire.
“The fire was contained in the kitchen area and had yet to spread to other parts of the house. Nonetheless, the smoke was still very thick and hazardous.
“My colleague managed to put out the fire before it spread further while I entered the house to rescue the two boys,” he said.
He said it took about 20 minutes for him to open the front gate and door and get the children out.
“They tried to go deeper into the house when they saw me as they did not know what was happening.
“Thankfully, I was able to pull them out before it was too late,” he said.
Kons Puganeswara said he was also grateful to the neighbours, who acted swiftly in response to the emergency and supplied the tools needed for the two policemen to put the fire out and rescue the children.
“I do not know what would have happened to the children if we, as well as their neighbours, had not been at the scene.
“I am grateful that we were able to make it in time and avoid a tragedy,” he added.
Kons Puganeswara, who joined the force in June last year, was among 49 policemen, media practitioners and the public who received appreciation from Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar during the Johor police monthly assembly here on Thursday.
Two other recipients were Insp Lim Yen Jee and Insp Lee Kat Seong, who were among the officers involved in bringing home a six-year-old girl who went missing in July this year.
“We were able to detect the suspect and the car he was using through closed circuit television (CCTV) footage found at the scene where she went missing,” said Insp Lim from the Johor police headquarters’ special investigation (D9) unit.
“That later led us to a budget hotel in Batang Kali, where the main suspect was arrested and the girl was found.
“I am just grateful we were able to get her home before anything happened. That is the most important thing for me,” Insp Lim added.
The case of the missing six-year-old girl made headlines in July this year after she disappeared during a Bon Odori festival in the Iskandar Puteri area.
She was later found in a budget hotel in Batang Kali, Selangor, on July 23, which led to the arrest of a 31-year-old man, who is the main suspect in the case.
