In a novel and rather rare incident, a policeman played good samaritan on Friday by counselling a student who was fearful of attending his class X exam that began on the same day. Madhavan Nagarajan, the beat officer of Ambagrathur area, also pleaded with the chief examiner of the centre and obtained special permission to allow the boy to appear for the exam, which had already begun by the time the cop-student duo reached the venue, a top police official said.

Officer Madhavan noticed the student of the government higher secondary school moving around aimlessly on a nearby street, shortly before the exam was to commence. "The officer understood that the student was fearful of the exam. He started talking to the student in a friendly manner and helped him overcome the fear," Karaikal District Superintendent of Police Vamseedhar Reddy said.

Officer Madhavan encouraged and gave the boy confidence to write his exam, before taking him to school at around 10.40 am. The exam, however, had already begun at 10 am with 15-minutes for students to go through the question paper. After the policeman explained the situation and requested the Chief Examiner, the boy was allowed to sit for the Language Paper I. Officer Nagarajan's efforts were appreciated by the SP.,