Kupwara, July 23: Manzoor Ahmad Raise of Khanabal Chowkibal, the lone bread earner of his family left in search of labour work to feed his old parents and two younger siblings at 8:30 am when everyone around was celebrating the second day of Eid-ul-Adha.
After walking a distance of 4 km on foot, he reached Tamuna area where an elderly woman with her daughter was waiting for someone to make them cross the makeshift bridge over Nallah Kehmil.
Manzoor, a known social activist of the area, assisted her daughter to cross the makeshift bridge.
He then came back and assisted the elderly woman to cross the temporary bridge.
While crossing the temporary bridge, she purportedly lost balance and fell into Nallah Kehmil.
“While trying to save the elderly woman, Manzoor jumped into the Nallah to rescue her. Battling hard to save her, the high flow of water swept Manzoor away,” locals said.
His body was retrieved 1.5 km from where he had jumped into the Nallah.
According to locals, 22-year-old Manzoor used to shoulder all the responsibilities of his family and that was why even on the second day of Eid, he had gone to work.
“Manzoor wanted to ensure that his 16-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother would get the best education and would never be seen at home,” Sarpanch Khanabal Shabir Ahmad told Greater Kashmir.
Shabir said that he had previously saved many lives from drowning but this time he himself fell prey to the gushing waters of Nallah Kehmil.
At home, his 65-year-old father Muhammad Yaqoob Raise is shattered with the untimely death of Manzoor.
Meanwhile, locals of the area appealed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to provide a government job as ex gratia relief to Manzoor’s family so that they can make ends meet.