Punjab: Kargil war veteran saves five drowning labourers

Harjinder Singh, a retired soldier who fought in the Kargil War, and his two sons risked their lives to save five labourers from drowning in the Sirhind Canal near Machhiwara on Monday night

Harjinder Singh, a retired soldier who fought in the Kargil War, and his two sons risked their lives to save five labourers from drowning in the Sirhind Canal near Machhiwara on Monday night.

Harjinder Singh, a retired soldier who fought in the Kargil War, and his two sons risked their lives to save five labourers from drowning in the Sirhind Canal near Machhiwara on Monday night.

The incident occurred when an SUV (Mahindra Scorpio) carrying labourers lost control and plunged into the canal near the Pavate bridge. While most of the occupants managed to escape, one person, Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Alike village in Bathinda drowned and lost his life.

Harjinder, 49, a war veteran from Behlolpur village, was returning home with his family from a wedding when he saw the vehicle ahead of him suddenly disappear.

Sensing something was wrong, he stopped his car and saw the SUV submerged in the canal, with its passengers desperately calling for help.

Singh and his two sons 18-year-old Gurleenpreet Singh, and Harkirat Singh, 17, jumped into the freezing waters of the canal, broke the vehicle’s windows, and pulled out the trapped labourers one by one. Their courageous act saved five lives, though, Kulwinder Singh could not be rescued in time.

Upon receiving information, Machhiwara police station SHO inspector Harvinder Singh and ASI Sukhwinder Singh arrived with a police team. The injured were rushed to the hospital, where one worker remains under treatment. Other labourers sustained minor injuries.

Police later fished out Kulwinder Singh’s body from the canal and handed it over to his family after a post-mortem examination.

Harjinder is a veteran of 15 Punjab and is now re-employed in the security detail of businessman Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia. He had come home on vacation. During the Kargil War, Harjinder sustained shrapnel injuries in the Mala sector, which led to his medical discharge from the service.