Chandan Das, the deputy superintendent of police (traffic) of Cooch Behar, is a happy man.

As many as 55 of his “students” could succeed in the interview conducted to recruit constables in the Bengal state police force.

For the past few months, Das had gone beyond the call of duty to guide a group of youths who were preparing for the final leg of the recruitment process, that is, the interview.

Last Friday, he was pleasantly surprised to find many of his “students” in front of his office near Sagardighi of Cooch Behar town. Beaming broadly, they felicitated Das with a bouquet, cake and chocolates, as they told him that they had passed the interview and would be recruited as constables.

One of them, Sourav Chakraborty, 22, said being a cop had been his childhood dream. “I had passed in the prelims, in physical fitness and in the main (of the recruitment exam). Then I had to wait for the interview. While waiting, I learnt that DSP (traffic) Sir is training some youths for interviews. I joined, and now because of his guidance my dream has come true,” he said.

He and his friends said Das had held mock interviews and guided them on how to handle different and difficult questions calmly and confidently.

Sources said that written exams were held last February and final interviews in August and September.

Das, when asked about his unique initiative, said he had trained around 70-odd youths for the interview.

“I helped them improve their confidence, guided their reading and showed them how to first judge a question, think it over and then answer. The mock tests, I believe, helped them. It gives me a good feeling as most of these boys are from economically weaker families,” the traffic DSP said.

In Cooch Behar, the district police in July last year opened “Chila Roy Pathshala”, a training centre for job aspirants preparing for competitive exams. Das trained the youths at the centre located in district police lines.

“The idea is to encourage youths and train them so that they can succeed in competitive exams. It is good that a batch of youths have proved their mettle,” said Cooch Behar district police chief Md Sana Akhtar.