One person dies as SUV veered off road into muddy waters of canal near Machhiwara

Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service

Harjinder Singh (49), an ex-Armyman and Kargil War veteran, and his two teenaged sons saved five persons from drowning whose SUV plunged into the Sirhind canal between Pvaat village and Behlolpur village near Machhiwara in Ludhiana on Monday night around 11:30 pm.

One person, Kuldeep Singh, did not survive in the accident after his body was taken out from the freezing cold water.

The veteran of 15 Punjab (Patiala), now re-employed in the security of Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia, had come home on vacation. On Monday he, along with his two sons Gurleenpreet Singh (18) and Harkirat Singh (17), were returning after attending a wedding in Bathinda when they saw a vehicle plunging into the Sirhind canal with six victims trapped inside it.

“I was sleeping in the rear seat of my car when one of my sons, who was driving the car, stopped to see the vehicle falling into the canal. After realising that six youths around 25 years of age were struggling to get out of the vehicle, me and my two sons were lucky to bail them out by the grace of God,” the former sepoy said.

Harjinder, along with his sons, rescued the victims by breaking open windowpanes. His sons took the help of a fallen tree to stop the vehicle from sliding further into the muddy water. The trio brought the victims to safety and informed the police. Village residents gathered at the scene and took care of the shivering victims.

“Though we all were wet and shivering with cold, we were feeling thirsty as climbing uphill with victims was torturous. The residents arranged some water for us after which we breathed easy,” they said.

Three PCRs and an ambulance reached the spot after around one hour. One person was declared brought dead at hospital. “One of the five victims was unconscious and water had to be pumped out of the body with the help of chest presses. One victim was bleeding profusely as thick blood oozed out of his head. We secured his head with two Siropas lying in our car.” He has been referred to the DMCH, Ludhiana, on Tuesday.

The local residents lauded the ex-Armyman’s courage and recounted that Harjinder had saved a 25-year-old girl who jumped into the canal way back on August 25, 2008. Then too, he had held the drowning girl by her hair for around 500m in the muddy water and rescued her to the other bank of the canal.

What was Harjinder doing there? “I had gone to a liquor vend near the canal to have some quality time,” he chuckled.

Harjinder, who was injured in the artillery fire from across the border had fell in a ditch in the Mala sector of Kargil during the war and had to be medically boarded out soon, was awarded by the state government for showing exemplary bravery in saving the life of a drowning girl.

Residents said the 6-ft jawan has helped many village children and youths learn swimming. “The canal is a part of our life, we cannot afford to stay away from it. Hence, learning swimming is a step in knowing our surroundings and responding to such situations,” he said.

On being asked what made him jump along with his two sons into the canal in the dead of the night to save the trapped victims, Harjinder said: “How can you see people drowning in front of your eyes. God has given me the ability to help someone. I want my teenaged sons to be fearful of God and brave enough to come to the rescue of persons in need.”

The police said the victims were gas pipeline workers and they were on the way from Bathinda to Rupnagar when the mishap occurred.