A few days ago, a terrifying message about “kidnappers” in the city of Hyderabad, was being circulated on WhatsApp, leaving its residents shocked and on high alert. Following this, there were several reports of mobs attacking innocent people mistaking them to be members of this rumoured kidnapping gang.
The police force of Hyderabad lost no time to declare the message to be completely fake and requested the residents to disregard it entirely. They even erected banners to alert people about the same.
However, it looks like rumours spread faster than facts, and innocent people, unfortunately, bear the cost.
Conducted awareness Programme in the limts of PS Chilkalguda pic.twitter.com/fX40KLE5bD
— SHO CHILKALGUDA (@shochilkalguda) May 30, 2018
According to this New Indian Express report, Constable Ravi, Inspector Y Prakash Reddy and Inspector N Shanker saved an innocent man from an angry mob, hell-bent on getting “justice.”
Constable Ravi was on duty along with two of his colleagues, when he received an urgent call from his superior instructing him to rush to the Phoolbagh area.
He would never have guessed what was in store for him.
Ravi and the other two policemen reached the scene and came face-to-face with a mob of around 1500 agitated people. As they squeezed through the tightly-packed crowd, they saw that two men who were crossdressers were the targets and the mob had beaten them black and blue. One man had already succumbed to his injuries, while the second was battling for his life.
Speaking to NIE, Ravi said, “Our efforts to rescue the other man resulted in us receiving severe blows. When the victim managed to come behind us, the public started abusing us for ‘saving the kidnappers.’ They did not even allow us to shift the body to a mortuary and the victim to [a] hospital.”
However, the able policemen knew that the life of an innocent man lay in their hands, and continued to brave the furious mob.
We salute the bravery of Constable Ravi of @hydcitypolice who struggled & risked his life to save a crossdresser from fury of a 1500 strong mob. Special words of appreciation also for his colleagues Shankar & Insp Y Prakash Reddy.#MondayMotivatonhttps://t.co/hEuYBhblVl
— IPS Association (@IPS_Association) May 28, 2018
“Although the situation appeared to be spiralling out of control, we held our ground, and eventually resorted to lathi charge as the people began to pelt stones at us,” inspector N Shanker said.
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The policemen ultimately managed to save the man’s life. While their bravery and quick thinking must be appreciated, this incident is proof of just how costly a rumour can be.
If you receive this rumour of alleged kidnappers in Hyderabad, please be alert and spread the news that the police force is trying to convey—that the video forwarded on WhatsApp about a kidnapper gang is fake.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
Featured image source: Twitter/ Hyderabad Police.
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