A video that’s being widely shared on social media shows sub-inspector Gagandeep Singh rescuing a young Muslim man from a mob at a temple in Uttarakhand.
New Delhi: A police officer who stood firm against a mob to protect a young Muslim man in Uttarakhand this week says he only did what anyone in his place should have done.
“It was my duty to protect the boy,” said Gagandeep Singh, who ThePrint discovered is a sub-inspector.
Singh is the hero in a video that has been widely shared on social media over the past two days. The video shows him rescuing the man from a mob at a temple in Ramnagar.
Asked what triggered the assault, Singh said the crowd objected to the man’s presence on the premises of a temple.
“The boy (sic) was a Muslim and he was with a Hindu girl. They were hanging around the Garjiya temple premises since the location is scenic and near a river bank. This is a very famous temple in the town and is a popular hangout spot for young people,” he added.
“When people realised that the boy is a Muslim, they objected to his presence at the temple and started creating a ruckus over it,” he said.
Singh, posted in the vicinity, was the first to respond. When he reached the site, a mob had already come together and was beating up the youngster. After a struggle of around 15 minutes, Singh finally managed to pull the man away from the mob.
Was he scared walking into the mob? Singh said fear was “nowhere on my mind”, adding, “I was simply concerned for the boy’s safety. No one had any right to do that to him. I would have done the same had it been a Hindu or anyone at all.”
Singh’s feat has earned him an army of fans across India, come as it does at a time of seemingly heightened communal frenzy, especially online.
A passionate cop, Singh, a native of Jaspur in Uttarakhand, said he had grown up wanting to be either in the armed forces or police. “I always wanted to wear the uniform and help people,” he added.