Ex-cop donates part of pension

A retired police officer, who became the first officer-in-charge of a model police station in Bihar in 1948, has offered a token sum from his pension amount to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, urging him to get the police station renovated.

Nonagenarian retired cop Uma Nath Verma, in his letter to Nitish, has expressed his shock over the cracks that have developed in the police station building and has donated a sum of Rs 5,001 from his pension account with a plea that more such donations be made to help renovate and restore the historic police station.

“I hereby make a token donation of Rs 5,001 for the renovation of the building in Patna…. It may be a meagre amount for others, but it has lot of meaning for a man like me who is surviving on pension,” Verma’s letter, attached with a cheque (No 093363) of Rs 5,001 from his pension account in State Bank of India, said.

 Already in dilapidated state, Bihar’s first model police station was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Sri Krishna Singh on August 15, 1948, exactly a year after India got independence.

 Verma was then appointed its first officer-in-charge.

Developing cracks

Rewarded for his excellent performance, Verma rose to become Superintendent of Police.

“Having learnt with shock that cracks have developed and its roof leaks, I decided to donate a token sum so that it is renovated with additional help from the government,” Verma, now 91, said. The retired police officer, who had to undergo dialysis a couple of days back, has urged Nitish Kumar to “accept this humble commemorative donation and add adequate fund from the government side to get Pirbahore thana (police station) reconstructed.”

Copy of letter

A copy of the letter has been forwarded to Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi (who holds the charge of Finance Ministry) and Bihar Director General of Police Abhayanand.