Delhi Cop's Passion For Fitness Earns Him 53 Medals, Set To Retire After 39-Years Of Service

Delhi Police Inspector Hiralal Baliyan participated in his life's first-ever half-marathon in 2009 at 45 years of age. He was hooked and went on to win 53 medals in sprint races and half-marathons over the years.

After serving in Police for almost four decades, Baliyan is set to retire on June 30. He won around 380 awards during his service, including 126 commendation rolls by the Delhi Police commissioner.

Journey

Baliyan was born to a farmer in the Bhiwani district of Haryana and was the youngest among seven siblings. At an early age, when he was in class 5, he started exercising every day and developed fitness as his passion.

News agency PTI quoted him saying, "I have taken care of my health since childhood. I always ate home-cooked food and never missed morning exercise," reported NDTV.

Baliyan joined the Delhi Police in 1982 as a constable and established an inspiring career. As soon as he entered the service, he participated in the Republic Day parades in 1983, 1984, 1985 and recently in 2022. He participated in the Independence Day parades in 1984 and 1985. In the latest, he was also the platoon commander in the silver jubilee parade of the force's Raising Day on February 16.

Participation Over The Years

Baliyan performed his duty with dedication during his service and was always passionate about fitness. In 2009, he participated in the Airtel half-marathon for the first time. In 2014, he participated again and secured 13th position by finishing it in 43 minutes and 12 seconds.

In 2016, he took part in the Annual Delhi States Masters Athletics Championship and secured three gold medals in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m categories. In 2017, he took part in the IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Half-Marathon and secured 9th position. In the same year, he again took part in the annual Delhi athletics championship and won the gold medal in 200 m, silver medal in 400 m and the bronze medal in the 100 m race.

In 2018, he partook in the 10 km NSG marathon and secured 4th position. It was conducted to commemorate ten years of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Later he secured the 5th position in the 11th Edition of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.

Achievements

So far, Baliyan has received 380 rewards, including 53 medals comprising six gold, nine silver, nine bronze in athletics and 19 medals in half-marathons. He has also received 126 commendation rolls from the Delhi Police commissioner.

Baliyan said in his 39 years of service, he has earned two out-of-turn promotions. First, in 2005, he was promoted from head constable to rank of assistant sub-inspector and later in 2018 when he was further promoted to Inspector.

Apart from service and fitness, Baliyan completed Yoga Teacher Teaching Course in 2016 and, two years later, in 2018, earned a masters' degree in Yoga and Science of Living. He also holds a diploma in naturopathy from the Akhil Bharatiya Prakritik Chikitsa Parishad.

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