CID honours country`s real life heroes

Mumbai: Unsung heroes of real life were honoured at the CID Veerta Awards, given to encourage acts of bravery by people and motivate others to live fearlessly. The nine winners included a woman who fought goons to save her mother and kids, a boy who battled a leopard to safeguard her only sister, and a school boy whose mission is to see a green India -- people of such valour were honoured at the awards function here Sunday night. Held at the Chitrakoot Grounds, the event, hosted by actors Anoop Soni and Mona Singh, saw other small screen celebrities like Ronit Roy, Aishwarya Sakhuja, Shweta Tiwari, Sharad Kelkar, Rashmi Desai and composer Anu Malik. Veteran Bollywood actress Asha Parekh, who was a member of the awards jury, was present too, as was the entire team of the show "CID". "The audience has supported and encouraged us for the past 15 years. So we are here to encourage their bravery and motivate others to live fearlessly," said actor Shivaji Satam, who plays ACP Pradyuman in the long-running show. Among the winners were Anjum, a class 10 student, who rescued some of her friends from a train accident wreck. Another class 10 boy Abhishek Ranjan was awarded for his green movement - he runs an awareness programme with the support of 350 other students and they are on the mission to grow neem plantations across the country. Parents of Keenan and Reuben were also among those honoured. A minute`s silence was observed in the memory of both the boys, who were killed in Mumbai while fighting eve-teasers. B.P. Singh, producer of "CID" said: "Fifteen years is a unique feat and we are happy with the response our show has been getting in so many years. We got 24,000 entries for the awards this year and we got to know that people are enthusiastic to get recognised for their brave acts, and we will continue doing so." Shweta Tiwari and Aishwarya Sakhuja added glamour to the event with their performances. There was also a team performance by members of "CID". The humour to the show was infused by Ali Asgar and comedian Kapil. The awards ceremony will be aired on Sony in April. IANS