Christ University student becomes hero in Kerala after rescuing fishermen from deep sea

Dewang Subin, hailing from Thalikulam on the coastal areas of Thrissur district, is receiving appreciations for his courageous act

A 19-year-old boy in Kerala, who is doing BTech at Christ University in Bengaluru, is being showered with appreciation as he ventured into a sea with his drone and successfully traced four fishermen who were missing.

Dewang Subin, hailing from Thalikulam on the coastal areas of Thrissur district, is receiving appreciations from local people and even from ministers for his courageous act.

Dewang, who is a second-year computer science student at the Kengeri campus, has been operating drone mainly to pursue his passion towards photography. He used to regularly operate drone in the beach near his house.

On Tuesday, by around 10 am, his father Subin informed him that four fishermen, who ventured into the sea from the coast near his house during the early hours of the day, went missing as their boat met with a mishap in the deep sea. Dewang immediately went to the beach with his drone and offered assistance in tracing the missing fishermen.

"I never thought that it was going to be a very risky affair. But at that point of time I was only thinking of the fishermen missing in the sea and their families. Hence, I ventured into the sea in one of the fishing boats that went on a search mission," Dewang told DH.

As the boat went far into the sea, the weather turned rough and he found it difficult to control the drone owing to the wind. Making the drone land on the boat was even more challenging. After reaching more than 10 nautical miles into the sea, the drone traced the fishermen struggling to stay afloat. Immediately, the fishing boats reached them and rescued all the four, he recalled.

It was for the first time that he was venturing deep into the sea in a fishing boat.

The fishermen and the people of the locality showered him with appreciation for voluntarily taking up the risky challenge.

Agriculture minister V S Sunilkumar, who is a MLA from the district, posted on the social media that the entire region is feeling proud about Dewang for venturing into sea with his drone and aiding the rescue operation. Couple of other ministers were among the hundreds of persons who called him up and congratulated.

Owing to his passion for photography and drones, Dewang even developed a drone by himself last year. Only four months ago, he bought a drone that costs around Rs one lakh. He is also a licenced drone operator.