The residents of Pallippuram, a sleepy village in the coastal district, cannot believe that their beloved athlete Jomon, who was engaged in the great task of rescuing pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand, is no more. The villagers came to know about his death through media reports.
P G Jomon, 26, of Pottechira house, Cherthala taluk died while engaging in the rescue operations being carried out at Gourikund on Tuesday. He had joined the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITPB) as a constable just two-and-a-half years ago. Jomon, the only son of Georgekutty and Joli, joined the force on September 3, 2010. Two months ago he had visited his home and spent about 40 days with his family, friend and villagers. Madhu, a neighbour of the family, said that it was Jomon’s excellent skills as an athlete that paved his way into the ITBP. Jomon had bagged multiple prizes in athletics at the school, district and state level sports meets. He did his schooling at HSS Sreekhandeswaram, before joining the Thuravoor Industrial Training Institute. While training at the institute Jomon attended the selection process of the ITBP conducted in Thiruvananthapuram. The policeman was serving at the Chimoli camp of ITBP in Uttarakhand. “He was very active in the village, especially at the club level and in the fields of athletics, church activities and politics”, Madhu reminisced.
Jomon had given a call to his parents only on Monday. “He told us that he was involved in rescue activities at flash flood affected areas. He said that he was busy with rescue operation and will call us later”, Jomon’s parents said.