FIR lodged against 6 in boat capsize incident

AGRA: City police have lodged a case against six people for Wednesday’s boat capsize accident at the Kaijara Ghat on the Chambal River. A case was lodged against the owner of the boat and five members of his staff who were responsible for loading the ferry beyond its capacity. The ferry, with a capacity of about 50, was carrying 100 people. It capsized in the middle of the river.Despite a day-long search operation, there is no trace of the five people missing.
SSP Shalabh Mathur told TOI that an FIR has been lodged under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC against the boat owner, four people who were rowing, and one person who was guiding those in the ferry to different spots.
“The complaint has been lodged by G Singh from Morena, Madhya Pradesh. The complainant also informed police of the identities of the five missing people,” the SSP said.
G Singh’s 12-year-old daughter is among the missing.
Those in the ferry were on their way to the Bateshwar Fair. Most of the passengers were from Morena and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh.
“In villages near the Chambal in UP, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the river is the easiest mode of commuting. It is fine in summer, but after the monsoon and in winter, it could get dangerous as the river swells and there are gharials too in it,” said G Singh.
SHO Ramesh Bharadwaj of the Khera Rathore police station said, “There is no bridge across the river, so villagers are forced to take ferries. There are many ghats like Nadigawan, Sevgarh, Kaijara and Pinhat, from where boats ferry people to Agra city from Baah.”
Asked if it was not possible for police to monitor the state of the boats and prevent such accidents, the officer said, “Villagers sometimes use their own boats, many of them dilapidated. Police cannot possibly keep tabs on every boat. Villagers may even overload their boats. People should be sensitized about the dangers of overloading boats, so such mishaps can be avoided.”