Surat: Cop jumps into Tapi to save ragpickers

SURAT: A traffic police constable of city police rescued a 30-year-old woman and her 10-year-old niece from drowning in Tapi from weir-cum-causeway built over the river on Tuesday. The constable, who was in uniform, immediately jumped into the river and rescued the two ragpickers.
Constable R R Rabari, lifesaver of Rita Rathod and her niece Jayshree, was commended by police commissioner R B Brahmbhatt for his courageous act and awarded Rs1,000 cash prize. He was also given a letter of appreciation by Brahmbhatt in his office. City police will recommend Rabari for Jivan Raksha Padak awarded by the Government of India.
Rabari spotted a crowd at 9am when returning home in Singanpore after night shift from city traffic police head office in Athwalines. He was crossing the river from the causeway but stopped.
“I noticed that the girl was coming out of water frequently but the woman was taking time to come out. I knew they must have gulped a lot of water by now and hence jumped to rescue them. I did not wait for a team of fire department to arrive,” Rabari told TOI.
Rabari didn’t even wait to remove his wallet before jumping into the waters. He first rescued the girl and then the woman. “The woman had already gulped lot of water and hence I pressed her back and chest after which she began to puke. She was safe after that. The girl was normal,” said Rabari, a native of Khakhrathad village near Than in Surendranagar district.
The girl was picking plastic waste from the causeway’s sloppy side when she slipped into the waters because of algae. In an attempt to rescue her, Rita threw one end of a cloth to Jayshree and tried to pull her out. Meanwhile, Rita too lost balance and fell into the waters. They both started drowning when Rabari arrived there as a saviour.
Rabari is in police for the past six years and was trained at PTS Vadodara.
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