Salam Dar — Peerless expert in retrieving bodies from waterbodies

PULWAMA — A 65-year-old man from Kakapora hamlet of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district is known for fishing out human bodies from rivers and other waterbodies, especially those who commit suicide by jumping into rivers.

Abdul Salam Dar, a resident of Kakapora, has been roped in as an expert to Sopore to fish out the body of a girl who had jumped in Jhelum around a week before.

Dar, while talking to the news agency KNO, said that so far he has fished out 44 human bodies from river Jhelum at different spots in the last three decades and his efforts are to retrieve the 45th body. “I have been doing this work for the last 30 years and have retrieved bodies at Sangam, Anantnag, Bijbehara, Pampore, Athwajan, Srinagar, and other parts of Kashmir,” he said.

He added, “Around 30 years ago, a boy from our locality had drowned in river Jhelum and when everyone failed, I went there and fished out his body. Since then, this work has been going on and every year, I have been fishing out bodies whether it is local or non-local.”

Asked what kind of technique he is using to fish out the bodies, he said, “I have no tools but it is just Almighty’s blessing on me. I start with the name of Allah and He helps me.”

“Instead of using boats and other things, I am going into the water myself with a rope and long wood to fish out the bodies and so far whenever I have gone into the water to fish out the body, I have succeeded,” he went on to state.

About Sopore incident where the body of a girl, who committed suicide, continues to remain untraced, he said that it is a very difficult operation as Jhelum is very wide there besides the depth is around 50-60 feet and water is flowing very fast.

He said it seems the body isn’t lying there as the water is flowing with good speed at Sopore and it might have stuck below Sopore. However, he said efforts are on to find out the body.

He claims that during the 2014 floods, he managed to rescue around 18 persons including some non-locals who were trapped in the water.

Notably, Salam’s name was suggested on social media as an expert who can fish out the body of the Sopore girl who had jumped into Jhelum eight days ago and since then, efforts are on fish out her body.