An Armed Reserve Police constable, Pilli Raju, attached to the Khammam Police Commissionerate headquarters, has been bringing international fame to the Khammam police by winning international marathon medals. He made the best use of the sports meets that have gone virtual during the Covid-19 pandemic and participated in the recent international marathon events of South America and North America and won medals.

Virtual marathons are events that allow participants to run anywhere in the world in compliance with the event guidelines with the help of a mobile application. The participants have to upload screenshots of their run’s starting point and finishing point on to the app. Based on the time taken to finish the run, the participants will be presented with medals. In a half marathon, the runner has to cross a distance of 21 km within three hours of time to win the medal.

Running apps like Strava and Adidas Runtastic based on GPS tracking are used to keep the organisers posted about one’s running status. Raju completed the Hyderabad Half Marathon, a physical event held on February 28 in the State capital, in two hours and six minutes.

He received a medal in the virtual Delhi Marathon-2020 held on November 29 and is yet to receive a medal for his participation in the virtual Europe Half Marathon event held on Feb 28. He is looking forward to the London Marathon to be held in December.

34-year-old Raju, a native of Kostala village in Wyra Mandal, secured a constable's job under the sports quota in 2009. His sports portfolio includes Kabaddi, Judo and Wrestling, and he represents the Police Department in annual national and State events and won over 30 medals.

Commissioner of Police Tafseer Iqubal appreciated Raju for his achievements and presented a reward. Additional DCP (AR) Kumara Swamy and ACP (AR) Vijay Babu also lauded the constable for bringing laurels to the Police Department.

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