Two constables from Pachpaoli police station responded to an alert from the police control room and rescued a 75-year-old man with dementia who had been found unconscious at a remote location near Motibagh Railway Crossing on Saturday. The man, Vithal Chahande, had been lying unconscious for at least five hours amidst tall weeds at the crossing, where vehicular and pedestrian movement have been halted due to ongoing construction. The constables managed to reunite him with his worried family at Kamal Chowk, where they had been frantically searching for him.
Even though construction activity was not currently taking place, the area was completely desolate.
Following a passer-by’s alert to the control room, constables Anil Dhule and Pankaj Borkar hurried to the scene but were initially perplexed as there was no one to be found at the empty location.
After a brief search, Chahande was discovered unconscious amidst tall grass and weeds. The officers extracted him from the area and splashed water on his face. As he began to show signs of regaining consciousness, they carried him to a nearby tea kiosk where they provided him with water and warm tea. Constables Dhule and Borkar were perplexed as Chahande could only remember his own name. “We took his photograph and quickly shared it in local WhatsApp groups,” they said.
Police volunteer Nitin Ambolikar revealed that the man lived somewhere near Kamal Chowk. Constables Dhule and Borkar spent two-and-a-half hours searching the area around Kamal Chowk before finally locating his family. Their efforts were praised by Senior Inspector Baburao Raut of Pachpaoli police station. Dhule explained that the elderly man had been sitting outside his residence but seemed to have wandered off towards the desolate area near Motibagh, where he collapsed and lost consciousness. “It remains unclear how he ended up in the abandoned spot and stayed there for five hours. Fortunately, someone alerted the control room, allowing us to rescue him and reunite him with his family,” Dhule said.