Expert Swimmer Eshwar Malpe from Udupi Jumps into a 10ft Deep Waters of Malpe Port to Retrieve a Businessman’s Rs 1,5 Lakh iPhone after he got an SOS call from him
Mangaluru: This time it is not a good swimmer trying to save a drowning human being in the waters, but something different. : When expert swimmer Eshwar Malpe received an SOS that a high-end phone had fallen into 10ft deep waters of Malpe port, about 5km from here, he was in two minds: Should I take the plunge or rescue a person in distress, instead, in a similar exercise?
Since the caller was a businessman who had stored key documents on his Rs 1.5 lakh phone, he made a strong plea for immediate help. Eshwar jumped into the backwaters and fished out two phones – one pricey and the other unidentified and unclaimed. The incident comes three months after a government officer in Chhattisgarh was fined Rs 50,000 for ordering the emptying of a reservoir to recover his phone lost in the waterbody. Eshwar, 48, speaking to the media said that the businessman who had lost his phone was buying fish from the Malpe market when it slipped out of his hand and sank into the Malpe waters without a trace.
It is learnt that Eshwar gets such SOS calls by the dozen in a day. In his 20-year free service, he claims to have helped retrieve nearly 900 bodies and recover 100 two-wheelers and 10 cargo vehicles from the same spot. The Malpe Bridge is where unloading takes place. Accidents often occur when heavy-duty trucks carrying ice or fish load unwittingly brush past or nudge other vehicles into deep waters. He said it is suspected more than 100 phones might have accidentally fallen into the sea in the past three months. Not many people report the loss of phones because of the presence of silt. No one ventures to retrieve phones or other valuable items.
“Since I have undertaken several rescue operations in two decades, I’ve recovered about 100 bodies and saved 65 lives. I’m familiar with every nook of the port, making the task easy for me. I also offer free ambulance services for the needy. Recently, I played an important role in a search operation to locate the body of Sharath Kumar, who was missing for a week after falling near Arasinagundi Falls,” added Eshwar.
