More than a dozen policemen and civilians were there but none dared to venture into the pond to rescue a teenager who had drowned in it minutes ago.
That was when Trimulgherry Inspector J. Rajeshwara Rao took off his uniform and jumped into the pond. Policemen and others present there warned him, saying the pond was deep and dangerous.
The Inspector had rushed to the pond located atop Kohe Imam Dargah in Trimulgherry, on learning that 15-year-old Arun Kumar had drowned in it. Close to 50 years, Mr. Rao couldn’t continuously swim for long, searching for the boy.
Realising that his energy was dipping, Mr. Rao asked his men to throw a rope. Holding onto it, he continued to look out for the teenager. After some time, he dived deeper into the water and, finally, stumbled upon the teenager.
It was scary to touch a person deep inside the water, he said. “As I could not pull him out, I put one of my legs into the teenager’s trousers and asked the constables to pull the rope to the shore,” Mr. Rao said.
Struggling for breath, the Inspector managed to bring the unconscious-looking teenager to the bank of the pond. “Initially, we thought the teenager was alive and tried to resuscitate him before rushing him to the hospital,” the Inspector said. After examining him, the doctors pronounced him dead. Mr. Rao said that those who drown in water can be saved within five minutes of the incident. “As no one was ready to venture into the pond, , I thought I can save the boy but could only retrieve his body,” Mr. Rao said, feeling sad for the teenager. Inquiries revealed that Arun Kumar, a seventh standard student, had come to the pond along with two friends. He had taken out his shirt and dived into the pond even as passers-by warned him against entering it.
The boy had drowned in the water as he did not know swimming. His friends had first approached the passers-by for help and then rang up 100. Then the police party arrived.
