You are the real heroes, I am a reel hero: Akshay to ITBP personnel

New Delhi/ Dehradun, Feb 17 (IANS) Bollywood megastar Akshay Kumar said on Thursday that the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel are the real heroes who guard the nation through all rough weather conditions.

"You all are the real heroes; I am only a reel hero. We are here because you are guarding the borders of the nation. Your dedicated service to the nation always inspires us," Kumar said, after inaugurating a newly-constructed volleyball court at the Frontier headquarters in Dehradun.

The popular actor also took part in a volleyball match with the jawans.

Kumar then met the students of the Central School on the campus and motivated them. They presented a dance on the song 'Teri Mitti Me' from his film 'Kesari', which was sung live by an ITBP jawan, Arjun Kheriyal.

"Akshay Kumar's love for ITBP has taken him to the troopers, also known as Himveers, many times over the years. He played a volleyball match in Kullu with the ITBP personnel in 2017 while shooting for ‘Jolly LLB2'. He also had spent time with them at the force headquarters in New Delhi in August, 2017," ITBP's public relation officer, Vivek Kumar Pandey, told IANS.

Kumar has been shooting for his film in Mussoorie since the past couple of weeks and he himself approached the ITBP to meet the troopers at the Frontier HQ, Pandey added.

He has been instrumental in developing the concept and promotion of the 'Bharat Ke Veer' online portal for the MHA to provide financial assistance to the families of CAPF personnel who attained martyrdom while serving the nation way back in 2016, and had also contributed a handsome amount to open this portal.

The portal has been designed for the general public so that they can donate money to the families of the martyrs who sacrificed their life while serving the nation.

ITBP Director General Sanjay Arora and other senior officers of the force were present on the occasion.

The ITBP primarily guards the 3,488 km long India-China borders ranging from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh.

Apart from this, the force also has important roles in many internal security duties and operations against Left Wing Extremism in the state of Chhattisgarh.

They also conduct relief and rescue operations as 'First Responders' for natural calamities in the Himalayan region.

Most of the ITBP's Border Out Posts (BOPs) are located at altitudes ranging from 9,000 ft to 18,800 ft, where temperatures drop to minus 45-degree Celsius in extreme winters.