On Monday morning, police constable Atikur Rahman single-handedly saved three boys from drowning in the Hoja river of Rajshahi's Durgapur upazila. 

For setting the 'rare example of humanity and bravery', Rajshahi Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Shahidullah rewarded Atik with a certificate and Tk 30,000 in cash at a simple function at the district SP's office yesterday.

Atik alone volunteered to rescue, while hundreds of people were watching the boys struggle in the strong currents, the SP said.

"We are proud of him; he has brightened our faces. We expect all police members to think like him and volunteer to establish humane societies across the country," the SP said, adding that the district police would recommend Atik's nomination for a national reward.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Atik, 30, described Monday's events.

One of the rescued boys was Mahadi, 11, son of Atik's colleague constable Zakir Hossain. The others were Rubel, 10, son of Yanus Ali, a farmer, and Shachchha, 10, son of Aynal Haque, a college teacher.

Atik works as a driver of Durgapur police station and lives with his family at a rented house near the police station, which is situated by the Hoja river.

At 10:00 am on Monday, Atik was sleeping after having returned home from night duty.

His wife Sharmin Begum woke him up. In a terrified voice, she told him that the boys had fallen into the river, the water of which had risen recently because of the floods.

The boys, who were playing on a submerged bridge, were swept away many yards away by the strong currents.

"I saw hundreds of people standing on the riverbanks. Some were taking photographs and shooting videos. None were trying to save them," Atik said.

Sharmin gave him a bamboo pole, which she ordinarily uses to hand washed clothes. Taking the pole, he jumped into the river.

"I needed the pole to save the boys, otherwise I would have drowned myself under their weights," he said.

Rescuing Mahadi was easy for him as he was near the shore.

But Rubel and Shachchha were floating away in the middle of the river.

Atik pushed the bamboo pole towards the boys and asked them to grab on to it.

When they got to the pole, Atik swam to them and took them to shore one by one, he said.

"The boys had become weak fighting the river currents. They were hardly able to hold onto the pole. They could have been washed away in minutes," he said.

All the boys are now safe with their parents, he said.

Atik said his memory of saving his own brother from drowning 13 years ago helped him take the split-second decisions that proved crucial in saving the boys.

In 2007, his brother Zayed Rahman, who was then four years old, was drowning in a pond at their village home in Pabna's Sujanagar upazila, he said.

"Many villagers were there around the pond then, but none to save my brother," said Atik, then an intermediate student.

"I saw the face of my little brother in the boys and attempted to save them," he said.

"In times of need, there are only humans for other humans. We cannot just ignore them and watch someone die when there is a way to save them," Atik added.

Atik said him not owning a smartphone also helped.

"If I had a smartphone, I feel that I could have become one of the spectators of the boys' possible deaths, instead of a rescuer," he said.