6 drown in Hooghly river while bathing after Holi

KOLKATA: Six persons drowned in the Hooghly in accidents in Bhatpara and Shovabazar Ghat after Holi celebrations on Tuesday.

At Balaram Sarkar Hooghly River Ghat in Bhatpara, four persons — two brothers from Saikat Nandi (32) and Sourav Nandi (27) from Bhatpara, one of their friends from Bagbazar, and 19-year-old Dipshikha Das Rajak from Bagbazar — drowned while bathing in the river.

A class-11 student, Sourav Sarkar, who was sitting at the ghat saw them struggling and jumped in to save them. However, he, too, was swept away by the current. Search operations were carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday.


DCP North, Barrackpore, Asim Khan said "Three DMG teams are conducting search operations but no body has been traced yet."

Sourav's mother said: "My son often sits here in the afternoon. He saw them drowning and jumped in to save them."

In the other incident, a 52-year-old man from Madhyamgram drowned at Shovabazar Ghat.

Samir Maity was at the ghat to take a dip. Locals said shortly after stepping into the water, he started struggling and began drowning. Bystanders alerted authorities, and Kolkata Police's disaster management team started a search.

With local assistance, they retrieved an unconscious Maity from the river. He was taken to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Cops have sent the body for an autopsy.

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