The picture Gaurav sent on whatsapp The picture Gaurav sent on whatsapp

In a scene straight out of Hollywood blockbuster 127 Hours, a 24-year-old software engineer from Delhi remained trapped for almost 10 hours after he fell 300 feet while rock climbing in Madhugiri, 60 km from Bangalore. But what saved him was a picture of the location where he was trapped, sent by him via WhatsApp to his friend, who alerted the police.

Gaurav Arora suffered severe injuries and could not be traced for several hours after he fell while climbing Asia’s tallest single rock hill on Sunday afternoon. However, he managed to click a picture of the location where he had fallen and send it to his friend Priyank Sharma, who had accompanied him during the climb but stopped on the way.

Sharma showed the picture to the Madhugiri police, who were able to pinpoint Arora’s location. The police and fire service officials found Arora, who works with the software company MU Sigma, at 1.30 am and rescued him at 2 am on Monday morning.

Madhugiri police inspector C Girish Nayak said the photograph helped them trace Arora, despite rescue operations being carried out at night. “We noticed that Madhugiri town was visible in the picture and based on that information, we managed to reach the spot where he had fallen,” Nayak said.

Police said Arora and Sharma started their climb on Sunday afternoon. Midway through the climb, Sharma felt tired and stopped, while Arora carried on.

Sharma, who waited for Arora till 5 pm, realised he was in trouble when he got the photograph on the phone messenger, and approached the police.

The techie was first shifted to the Tumkur district hospital and later to a private hospital in Bangalore. Police said he injured his head and abdomen and is currently in critical care.

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