Kumbh Super-Cop: He Jumped 20 Feet Into the River to Save a Life

Manoj Barahate, the policeman on duty at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik, jumped into the river to save a devotee who tried to kill himself.

A 24-year-old policeman on duty, Manoj Barahate, dove right in after him and saved the stranger’s life. His act of bravery was caught on security cameras.



 

A devotee tried to kill himself at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik by jumping off the bridge into the River Godavari.

On Twitter, Praveen Gedam, the top official of the local corporation, said the police office had jumped off “a 20-feet-hgh bridge”.

Policeman Manoj Barahate jumped off from 20 ft high bridge to save a man. One more life saved! Salute to his #braverypic.twitter.com/jPDmFy8Aoy

– Praveen Gedam (@praveengedam) September 14, 2015

The Kumbh Mela — a celebration of faith in which Hindus bathe in a sacred river — is held every third year and is rotated between four holy sites.

It is held at Nashik every 12 years and, although it isn’t on the same scale as the editions on the Ganga at Haridwar and the Sangam at Allahabad, it still draws millions of pilgrims.

Thirty-nine pilgrims were trampled to death and dozens injured when the religious festival was last held by the Godavari river in Nashik, around 100 miles northeast of Mumbai, in 2003. Local officials say they have made meticulous arrangements to ensure the safety of pilgrims this year.

Mr Gedam, as an example, tweeted a picture of policemen standing in the water forming a human chain to ensure more pilgrims didn’t enter the river till the incumbents had finished offering their prayers and vacated the ghat or steps where the  devotees enter the water. 

See the chain of policemen in white t shirts. They were in water for hours together. #Nashik#Kumbhmelapic.twitter.com/IlkoSRY1DA

– Praveen Gedam (@praveengedam) September 15, 2015