BIKANER: Former cop Sushil Khatri’s Amarnath pilgrimage barely two months after his retirement culminated in tragedy, but not before he put service before self one last time. Staring death in the face, the 60-year-old Bikaner native jumped into the flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in the mountains over the cave shrine late Friday to save many fellow devotees from drowning before the surging tide swept him away, survivors said.
Khatri was in a batch of 22 devotees that had left Sriganganagar, where he was the traffic police’s district in-charge until March, on July 3. His daughter's parents-in-law Mohanlal and Sunita Wadhwa, both part of the family pilgrimage, were the other victims from the Rajasthan district.
Since his retirement, Khatri had been eager to go on a holiday with his wife, son and relatives. The Amarnath yatra was just what he had been looking for — a pilgrimage with the feel of an adventure-filled vacation in the mountains. He was sharing a camp near the cave shrine with the Wadhwas, his family and hundreds of other pilgrims when calamity rained on them, washing away one tent after another.
Navneet Sharma, president of the Langar Seva Samiti at Sriganganagar, told TOI over the phone from
Srinagar on Saturday that Khatri was among the few who dared to step out to save lives at their own peril as a monstrous gush of water, mud and rock swept through the area.
Khatri had moved to Sriganganagar seven years ago and served in several police stations before going on to head the district traffic unit. Sriganganagar district collector Rukmani Riyar said the bodies of the deceased would probably be airlifted from Srinagar on Sunday. The district administration is in constant touch with the families of the survivors, she said.