Engineering student drowns at Lotus Point waterfall in Maval taluka

Pune: A 21-year-old student of an engineering college in the city drowned on Tuesday at Lotus Point waterfall in Maval taluka's Ekole village, about 70km from Pune. The victim, identified as Ayush Harinkhede, was a resident of Katraj and hailed from Gondia district. Harinkhede visited the scenic spot in the morning for an outing with his five friends. Rescue teams from Mulshi, Wadgaon Maval and Lonavla traced his body in the evening and handed it over to the police.
The location is quite popular among trekkers and revellers. According to Harinkhede's friends, after reaching the spot, the victim entered the water despite not knowing how to swim. He lost his breath and drowned. "After getting information about the incident, we immediately alerted the rescue teams," the officer said. The rescue teams from Wanyajeev Rakshak Maval, Shivdurga Mitra Lonavla, and Mulshi disaster management, reached the spot around 4pm. "The body was traced around 5.30 pm," he said. Nilesh Garade of Wanyajeev Rakshak, Maval, said it was not easy to bring the body out of the spot due to the difficult terrain. "Our members brought the body out around 9 pm and handed it over to the police," Garade said. A case of accidental death was registered with the Paud police.