‘Thought I wouldn’t make it’: Delhi cop who rescued two women from burning hotel

Dinesh said he quickly found a ladder and climbed up. “There was no time to think,” he said. “Your mind only tells you that someone needs help and you have to reach them. I first tried to break the window with my bare hands. I punched at it repeatedly, injuring my hand in the process, but the glass wouldn’t give way.”

Someone passed him a hammer after which he went up again and broke the glass.

“The shattered glass cut into my hands… Despite weighing around 90 kg, I squeezed myself through that tiny opening and entered the bathroom,” he said.

Inside, he said he found Nigerian women — one was a patient and the other her caretaker. “They had turned on the shower in an attempt to protect themselves from the heat and smoke, but thick smoke was already beginning to fill the room,” said Dinesh.

“The patient was a heavy woman… I attempted to lift her up but I could not move her. At one point, she looked at me and said, ‘I don’t think I will survive. Please save my caretaker’,” recounted Dinesh.

The only bright spot, the policeman said, was that both women understood Hindi so they could communicate. “But after hearing her say that, I became even more determined to ensure that both of them survived.”

“With great difficulty, I managed to lift her onto my shoulder and manoeuvre her towards the window. Slowly and carefully, I got her out and coordinated with people below to bring her down safely. Then I climbed back inside and rescued the caretaker as well.”

By this time, the bathroom had filled with dense smoke. “I suffer from sinus problems, and I was struggling to breathe… I nearly collapsed inside the bathroom,” he said.

“I could barely see the bucket that I had used as a step to reach the window… I lay on the bathroom floor trying to call out for help, but nobody could see me through the smoke,” Dinesh said.

For a moment, he thought he wouldn’t make it out alive. “As I was losing consciousness, the face of my eight-year-old daughter kept appearing before me. I don’t know why, but that thought gave me strength. I told myself that I had to get out… Woh hota hain na, ek aakhri baar koshish kar lo (There is that thing of just trying for the last time),” he said.

Dinesh climbed onto the bucket and dragged himself towards the broken window. “Broken glass cut into my hands and feet… I was bleeding but managed to climb down, I still had no idea how badly I was injured. The adrenaline was such that I could not feel the pain. Then I looked up and saw more people trapped above,” Dinesh said.

He said he and the other police personnel continued helping rescue the trapped guests. “I managed to assist a Nigerian couple and another person,” he said.

His younger brother, Head Constable Kartar Singh, was also injured rescuing people.

The speed at which the fire spread was unbelievable, Dinesh added. “One moment it seemed manageable and the next moment, flames had engulfed entire sections of the building… It was very harrowing.”

After being discharged from hospital, the first thing he did was to inquire about the condition of those he had rescued.

“I was relieved to learn they survived. One person suffered a fractured leg, but they are safe… they got another chance at life and so did I,” Dinesh said.