Over 30 congratulatory messages on the Ripon Club WhatsApp group applauded caterer Tehmtan Dumasia for his bravery in coming to the assistance of a police constable who was assaulted at Chowpatty on February 6, 2025. "I can’t be a mute spectator,” the genial caterer told Parsiana on June 2. "People stand by and take videos. They are bystanders.”
Dumasia, 62, recently received a letter of appreciation from Dr Abhinav Deshmukh, additional commissioner of police, for "your timely intervention on February 6, 2025, at Selfie Point (Girgaum Chowpatty) during an incident that could have ended in tragedy. Your selfless act in assisting police constable Shivaji Ugale, who was under attack by a violent assailant, was nothing short of heroic,” reported a front page story in mid-day on May 22.
Dumasia was returning from Ripon Club’s annual general meeting that evening to his Godrej Baug home at Nepean Sea Road when he halted at a traffic signal. He saw a young police constable on duty seated on his motorbike parked at the side of the road and spied a man coming up behind him and hitting him on the head with an object wrapped in a gunny sack. Dumasia saw the policeman clutch at his head, which was bleeding, "There was no time to think. I parked my scooter on the side and ran to help. I held the attacker by his hair… He was filthy, shirtless, wearing pants and keds. I learnt later that he was a drug addict… I do not know why he hit the constable, but it may have been because he had been reprimanded by the officer earlier in the day… I held tight and shouted for help,” he told the newspaper.
If the constable had been hit a second time he would have died. Dumasia related to Parsiana a remark made by a senior police officer.
Tehmtan Dumasia: brave intervention
A few people did arrive to assist, but they "were wary, obviously hesitant and scared to get involved, but eventually, they overcame their hesitation and assisted me in restraining the culprit… Miraculously, I was heard by some personnel inside a police van stationed at the corner of Chowpatty. The van arrived and the bleeding cop was sent in it to the closest hospital at Mumbai Central.”
Regarding the letter of appreciation, Dumasia said, "There is a message there, inspirational for all, that we should not just watch, even taking photos/videos as is the case today, or walk away, afraid to get into a ‘police jhamela (complication),’ as we say in local lingo, but do our duty as citizens.”
Deshmukh was reassuring. "I want to tell people that when you witness/see a person in trouble on the road, a victim of road rage or an accident, or in any other trouble, do not hesitate to intervene in good faith. Good Samaritans will not face any harassment from the authorities,” he told mid-day.
Dumasia had also assisted anxious people and police personnel outside the Oberoi Hotel when the November 26, 2013terrorist attack stunned Bombay. "I didn’t want to be at home doing nothing and criticizing the government,” he told Parsiana. He helped arrange for food and water to be given to the people and police there.