Bhopal Cop Reunites with Vendor Who Helped Him 14 Years Ago

Bhopal(The Uttam Hindu): On a Saturday day in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on a busy day, police vehicle screeched to a halt by the side of the row of vendors selling vegetables. Salman Khan was one of them. Salman Khan felt an adrenaline rush when he saw from afar Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh Patel getting out of the vehicle, beckoning his name.

It had been long since Patel had been tracking him. Patel is a senior officer now. Since they had last seen each other, Khan looked somewhat different, more gaunt and lined with age, but it was the scar on his lip that Patel recognized.

Khan stood to attention as he saw Patel and saluted. The latter smiled at this token of respect. "Mereko pehchante ho? " Patel asked him

"Mereko pehchante ho? " Patel asked him which is, "Do you remember me?

"Do you remember me?" Narendra responded warmly. Aap sabzi lene aate the, he said, recalling, You used to come to buy vegetables. In a video shared on his official X account, Patel reminisced, During my engineering days in Bhopal, I met Salman Khan. At that time, I often fought to afford dinner. Salman who himself ran a vegetable shop, became a supportive friend. Every night, he would keep aside a brinjal and a tomato for me.

I would cook Baingan ka Bharta and enjoy with it, thanks all to him." Salman said that, at first, he was quite nervous when he saw the police vehicle, but when he identified the officer, who had come down, he promptly smiled away his scowl.

He did not have any of Santosh's contact numbers but had followed him on social media and liked all his posts.

He said that he would take care of Santosh's cart at night whenever he left. This was done as a gratitude for the help he received during his worst times. Salman further said he was shocked as to how Santosh could remember him even after growing into such an important position. Santosh gifted a box full of sweets to Salman and exchanged his numbers so that this contact would not break. The two hugged, a public display of connection sparked years ago when Khan, then just a young street vendor, had lent a helping hand to Patel, who was struggling in engineering school at the time. That little act of charity had flowered into a lifelong relationship neither had ever envisioned.