HYDERABAD: A

constable

of Achampet police station is winning hearts for his endearing gesture of carrying an elderly devotee up a

rocky terrain

, inside the dense Nallamala forest.
The widely-circulated video shows Ramavath Ramadas, a constable with Achampet police station in Nagarkurnool district, carrying the old lady on his back all through the four-km stretch – the site of the annual three-day Saleshwaram

jatara

.

The 70-year-old devotee was returning after darshan when Ramadas spotted her struggling to make her way up the rocky path, in the interiors of the forest.
During stampede, the cop carried 2 people uphill on his shoulders

She had come for the jatara from Nagarkurnool.
“The

elderly woman

was almost crawling, holding on to rocks and branches for support,” said the constable posted in the holding area at the foot of the Shiva temple. “I realised she was having a tough time and, therefore, offered to help her,” he added.
Ramadas put her on his back and carried her uphill through the entire four-km distance and dropped her off at the bus stop. But despite being well acquainted with the tough terrain and being physically fit – the constable is also an award winning athlete – Ramadas said he had to take a couple of short breaks in between to catch his breath and give the aged woman some water. He shared how his past experience of working on the jatara arrangements gave him confidence of completing the arduous journey.

“We were very poor, and I had to do all sorts of odd jobs to make ends meet for my family. At that time, I got hired to set up a genset at the temple during the jatara. We had to carry the heavy genset down the terrain,” the constable from the neighbouring Mannanur village told TOI.
But this isn’t the first time Ramadas has rushed to help jatara devotees. In 2022 too, when there was a stampede at the holding area which left many people injured, the 42-year-old cop carried two devotees on his shoulders to the top, before medical help could reach the site.
The constable’s gesture, meanwhile, received huge appreciation from the general public, his colleagues and his superiors. Achampet circle inspector, G Ravindar, lauded him for his “friendly act”.
Ramadas joined the police force as a constable in the AP Special Police Battalion in 2007 and later got selected as a constable in 2012. In March 2024, he qualified for a 5K run at the international level. Earlier, he had won gold at national level for a 5k walk.

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