DNA

Mumbai, Apr 12: Two couples were so blinded by love that they didn’t see the high tide coming. A braveheart saw it and came to their rescue. But he didn’t see his own death riding the waves.

Mohan Redkar, a diesel mechanic working with the Mahindras, raised the alert when the two couples - Rukayna Khan and Mohammad Iliyas (both 18) and Ruksana Khan, 16 and Asif Khan, 17 - were trapped amidst waves. His heroics saved the four, but the hungry tide didn’t spare Redkar.

The couples reached Bandra Bandstand around 2pm on Friday, and headed for the isolated rocks near SeaRock Hotel. The teenagers - all residents of Jari Mari - were so engrossed in each other that they didn’t see the water level rising dangerously.

“Redkar alerted the couples that they were in the middle of high tide and asked them to cling on to the rocks,” said senior inspector Prakash George. “He, with the help of a few more witnesses, arranged for a long rope to haul the teenagers out of water.”

But before the ‘lifeline’ was thrown at them, the couples fell in the water. “Our saviour knew swimming. He jumped into the water and helped Rukayna out. As he was reaching for the others, a huge wave swept him away,” said Asif, who works in an air-conditioner factory in Kurla. People helping Redkar in the rescue act brought the other three teenagers out of water.

The fire brigade rescue team fished out Redkar’s body late in the night. His friend, who stays with him, identified it. His family lives outside Mumbai.

“We don’t know what Redkar was doing at the spot and whether he was accompanied by anyone,” said George. “Perhaps, he came to watch the film shoot that was going on near SeaRock Hotel.”