Gagandeep Singh humbly stated he was ‘just doing his duty’ when he stepped in to help the youngster who went to meet his girlfriend near a local Hindu temple.
NEW DELHI – A Sikh police officer has been hailed a hero after a video emerged of him protecting a Muslim youth from a rampaging mob.
Gagandeep Singh humbly stated he was ‘just doing his duty’ when he stepped in to help the youngster who went to meet his girlfriend near a local Hindu temple.
The sub-inspector acted as a human shield in Uttarakhand, India when a ferocious began to beat and heckle the young man.
Gagandeep told Indian media: ‘I was just doing my duty. I couldn’t have allowed the angry crowd to harm the youth.
‘It would have weighed heavily on my conscience throughout the rest of my life had anything happened to the youth.’
Social media have hailed the 28-year-old Singh a hero after he saved the unnamed man.
The incident happened on May 22nd when a large number of devotees were thronging the temple for Ganga Dushera celebrations. The Muslim boy is said to be 24 years old while his Hindu girlfriend is above 18.
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Locals apparently wanted to ‘teach the duo a lesson’.
Gagandeep explained: “I was on duty on the temple premises when I heard people shouting and bringing this 24-year-old Muslim youth towards the temple. They had beaten him up near the river bank, nearly 50 metres down from the temple.”
‘I held him close to myself and tried to take him away from the angry mob. I used my body as a shield to save him from the blows of the angry mob.
‘It was with much difficulty that I was able to take him away,’ he said.
‘The girl was escorted away by a female officer from another exit at the temple.
‘Both are adults. The boy was around 24 years old and the girl is above 18 years. After sometime, when we were assured, we escorted them out of the area safely.’ Gagandeep added.
A reward of Rs 2,500 (£28) has been announced for Gagandeep Singh for his act of bravery.
Gangandeep’s ‘courage” was hailed by the Indian Police Service Association as well.
#GagandeepSingh
A true hero bless you brother
— gurpreet sidhu (@gurpisidhu) 2:41 AM – May 26, 2018 · Moga, India
‘We salute the courage, compassion and presence of mind of our young colleague from Uttarakhand Police in saving a man from a lynch mob.
Here are some tweets on Gagandeep Singh’s Heroic Deeds:
We are quick to condemn those who take a life but we must be quicker to commend those who save one. #hero #GagandeepSingh http://dbpost.com/gagandeep-singh-meet-sikh-police-officer-who-saved-a-muslim-man-from-mob/ …
— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) 4:24 AM – May 26, 2018
Brave police officer #GagandeepSingh saved a man from getting lynched in Uttrakhand.
Not all heroes wear capes… some of them wear a turban.
— Naved Moin (@moin_naved) 2:19 AM – May 25, 2018
