Beed’s Meena Bhimsingh Tupe is the first woman to win MPA ‘Sword of Honour’

Woman cadet Meena Bhimsingh Tupe from Beed district on Wednesday became the first woman to win the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ in the history of Maharashtra Police Academy (MPA). The sword was awarded to her by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis during the passing out parade of MPA at Nashik. Ms Tupe also bagged the coveted Yeshwantrao Chavan gold medal for best all round cadet and Ahilyabai Holkar Trophy for best lady cadet.

Ms Tupe, who started her career as a constable, always dreamt about becoming an officer. She succeeded not only in passing but in becoming the best all round cadet in MPA. Born to a poor farmer family in Beed, Ms Tupe always wanted to be a cop. “I feel I have made the impossible possible and will strive to work for the country,” she exulted.

The day truly belonged to MPA’s women cadets who led the show with Deepmala Jadhav getting the Best Drill Trophy, and Poonam Suryawanshi winning the Savitribai Trophy for Best Baton as well as the Dr Ambedkar Trophy. Other meritorious cadets included Pradeep Lad, Dhanaji Devkar and Prashant Munde. A total 749 police officers, including 246 women and 503 men have graduated from one of the finest academies in India; said MPA director, Nawal Bajaj. He said that an e-learning platform for conducting virtual training was being started to cover all officers.