A video of a Sikh police officer saving a Muslim man from a mob in Uttarakhand, the northern state of India, has been shared widely on social media.
According to NDTV, the officer Gagandeep Singh had responded to an alert about trouble brewing in an area near a temple where a group was attacking a Muslim man who was with his Hindu girlfriend.
The incident has been reported from Ramnagar, which is near Jim Corbett National Park - a forested wildlife sanctuary.
In the video, which was shot on Tuesday, the Muslim man surrounded by an angry, shouting crowd, as the police officer keeps him close. When the crowd tries to beat the man, Gagandeep Singh is seen using his body to shield him.
The mob is seen getting bolder and trying to hit the man. The crowd later chanted slogans against the police.
The clip has drawn numerous reactions on Twitter, with many posts calling the officer a hero.
Bravo!! Sikh cop confronted a whole Hindutva swarm to save a Muslim from being lynched. https://t.co/HqYnSkHPeG
— Sanam Sutirath Wazir (@sanamwazir) May 24, 2018
Sikh cop in Dehradun saves a Muslim man from a rabid violent mob https://t.co/Hi5UlNwX67
— NoToSilence (@akdwaaz) May 24, 2018
This is doing duty. Instead of letting mob be
It was heartening to see on Youtube the videos of a brave young Sikh police officer, Gagandeep Singh, saving the life of a Muslim youth who may have been lynched by a frenzied Hindutva mob had it not been for the courageous intervention of Gagandeep.
— Markandey Katju (@mkatju) May 25, 2018
The viral video of a sikh sub-inspector of Uttarakhand police. He saved a Muslim boy from a bhagwa mob. Unafraid.
— Harsh (@harsh8848) May 24, 2018
That’s what an officer is supposed to do. Use his body to save a civilian. Not to use the civilian’s body to save his skin.