Kerala Civil Cop Saves Lives of Six Fishermen by Tracking Down Mystery SOS Call

While fishermen in Kerala are hailed as saviours by many due to their efforts in mitigating the damage caused by floods, a police officer in "God's Own Country" was recently hailed after his actions helped save the lives of six stranded fishermen.

On Wednesday, The News Minute reported that a senior civil police officer Pavithran received a mysterious SOS call at the wireless phone in Kozhikode's Kasaba police station. Though the connection was weak, the officer was able to make out that someone's life was in danger.

Unable to identify the source of the call, the cop tried to track the call from the control unit which monitors all incoming messages. But the call was unregistered. In fact, the call was not recorded anywhere at all.

At this point, it would not have been surprising for most cops to give up the message as a prank or a radio transmission mistakenly picked up by the police wireless. But Pavithran did not give up.

After much efforts, the police officer managed to locate the call to a fishing boat using his personal connections at coastal police. Despite being unable to trace the exact location of the call, Pavithran ensured search parties for the boat.

The boat was found and the cop's dedication helped save the lives of six fishermen who were stuck on that boat. According to the TNM report, the boat had strayed into the restricted territory after losing network on their phones and wireless connections.

Had it not been for the cop's relentless pursuit of the source of the mystery SOS, six lives may have been lost.

Pavithran's efforts were lauded by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday when he congratulated the Kozhikode cop for his on-the-toes thinking, The Federal reported.

Fishermen in Kerala are known for their dedication in helping others in times of crisis. During the 2018 floods in Kerala, fishermen emerged as heroes without capes or uniforms, deploying their boats and helping save thousands of lives. In Ernakulam district alone, for instance, fishermen helped rescue over 18,000 of the 54,000 that were rescued from the district.