Indian man builds a robotic arm to save puppy trapped in a drain

• The puppy had reportedly been crying for help for two days.
• The rescuer put together a device that is primarily a combination of a drone and a robotic claw.
• Milind Raj, the rescuer, has since adopted the puppy and named him 'Lifted'.

Not all superheroes wear capes, and a great example of such a hero is Milind Raj who took it upon himself to help a puppy that had been stuck in a filthy drain for two days.

We spoke to the 27-year old from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, learning the details of what happened.

While on a walk, Milind heard the desperate cries of the poor creature and upon investigation located the source of the distress which was a filthy drain.

Upon further inquiry, the people who lived in the area told him that they have been hearing these "loud cries" for over two days, suggesting that he just leave the puppy where it is, as rescuing it would be an impossible task. The drain would be both unsanitary and unsafe for humans to enter.

Lucky for the puppy, Raj is an innovator and tech-entrepreneur, and owns a company called Tech Monda. He decided to put his technical prowess to test by quickly putting together a device that will help him get the animal out of there. He knew this has to be done fast.

In his lab, he put together a device that is primarily a combination of a drone that he built two years back and a robotic claw, which he built from scratch just to rescue the puppy. Incidentally, the drone was launched by the late President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The AI-enabled claw helped him monitor the puppy’s heart rate, so that he could tell if it has grasped too hard. In fact, after the incident, he is now working on a claw that would automatically loosen the grip. It took him six hours to build the device.


Needless to say, it worked perfectly.

Once the emaciated puppy was out, it threw up a gross black liquid twice - the contents included plastic pan masala packets.

Raj has since adopted the puppy and named him 'Lifted'.