Kerala trekker wants to join Army, says Lt Col who led rescue team

C Babu, the 23-year-old trekker from Kerala who was rescued from a hill cleft in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Wednesday, has said that he wants to join the Indian Army.

Lt Col Hemanth Raj, who led a 75-member team to rescue Babu spilled the news in an interaction with News18, while also adding that the youth is well and recuperating.

“Babu is an optimist. When we first made contact with him, he was coherent and guided us. Once he had biscuits and water, he was kissing us all,” Raj said.

Also read: Army succeeds in rescuing youth trapped in mountain cleft in Kerala

It took two days, several attempts and a concerted operation by teams including the Army, the NDRF and trained mountaineers to rescue Babu who was trapped in a cleft on the mountain face of 1,000-metre high Kurumbachi hill after slipping into the cavity during a trek.

After failing to rescue him, his friends had informed the police about the situation.

On Wednesday, Babu was finally scooped out of the crevice by Army personnel and immediately given food and water as he had been without both for 45 hours.

Visuals of the incident shows a visibly exhausted but elated Babu kissing his rescuers. Speaking to News18, Raj said he was proud to know that Babu wanted to join the Army.

“My heart swelled with pride. For me, that was the moment that made all of it worth it,” he said.

Raj led the rescue operation leading his team and that of the NDRF and skilled mountaineers after the fire department, the Navy and Coast guard failed to rescue the youth despite three attempts.