Ahmedabad: Cop dies of heart attack, his depressed camel gives up food

AHMEDABAD: A camel belonging to the Jakhau police station in Kutch has given up food and water after its handler, assistant sub-inspector Shivraj Gadhvi, died of heart attack during patrolling in Pingleshwar in the border district of Kutch.
Inspector V K Khant of the Jhakau marine police station said that Gadhvi belongs to Singhodi village near Naliya in Kutch and had been with the Jhakau police station for a long time. “He used to regularly patrol the border on his camel and while the state was on high alert, he had intensified patrolling,” Khant said.

Police sources said that Gadhvi, 56, was assigned patrolling duty in Pingleshwar on 24 January. “He went to the area at about 9.30am with his camel and first fed him. Seconds later, Gadhvi collapsed,” a police source said. “He was taken to Kothara but as his condition worsened, doctors advised his colleagues to take him to Bhuj. But the intensity of pain increased, and the 108 ambulance taking him to Bhuj had to stop at a private hospital midway. He breathed his last there.”

The news of Gadhvi’s death pushed his village into gloom. “He was cremated at his village with full police honours as he had died while on duty,” Khant said. He said that when Gadhvi did not turn up at the Jhakau police station, the camel stopped taking food or water. “We are trying to help the camel recover,” he said.