MP: 12 drown in separate incidents in past 48 hours

Bhopal, Sep 9 (PTI) A jawan of the Special Armed Force (SAF) and a doctor were among 12 persons who drowned in separate incidents in Mandsaur, Vidisha, Sehore, Khandwa and Jabalpur districts of Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Monday.

Five persons drowned in the Betwa River in Vidisha district, while a doctor drowned during a picnic at Digambar waterfall in Sehore, said officials.

“Two teenage girls drowned in Agni River in Khandwa district. On Monday morning, a woman and her daughter drowned while the woman’s husband went missing after their motorcycle fell into a river from a culvert in Mandsaur. Two boys drowned in Jabalpur district on Sunday,” an official said.

Except for the Mandsaur incident, all the others took place on Sunday, he said, adding some bodies were retrieved this morning.

“Ashwin Krishnan Iyer (28), a doctor at a private hospital in Bhopal, drowned while bathing at Digambar waterfall on Sunday. The State Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) fished out the doctor’s body after a 17-hour search operation this morning,” Shahganj police station in-charge Pankaj Wadekar said.

“Iyer had come to the waterfall for a picnic with a friend. Security personnel deployed there had stopped them from bathing in the waterbody. But the duo managed to sneak in from another route,” sub-divisional officer of police Shashank Gurjar said.

In Vidisha, five persons drowned at Bangla, Rangai and Barri ghats of Betwa River, and three bodies were retrieved this morning, officials said.

“Harendra Chouhan (30), a constable with the 23rd battalion of the SAF, and Sandeep (26) drowned on Sunday evening. Their bodies were fished out in the morning. We also recovered bodies of Ankit Ahirwar (18) and Krishna Ahirwar (19), who drowned at Rangai Ghat on Sunday,” SDERF commandant Rashmi Dubey said.

“In another incident, Raghvendra Chouhan (24) slipped and fell into the river while travelling on a motorcycle with his sister on the Barri Ghat bridge on Sunday. While villagers managed to rescue Chouhan’s sister, he was swept away, and his body was recovered this morning,” the official said.

In Khandwa, two 18-year-old girls, Jyoti and Shivani, drowned while taking a holy dip in the Agni River under the Ashapura police post on Sunday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Rai said, adding the bodies have been retrieved.

“On Monday morning, Rajendra Singh (35), his wife Sitabai (32) and two daughters in the 6-7 age group, were crossing a culvert on Nahargarh-Billod road, some 30-kms from the district headquarters, on a motorcycle despite water flowing above it. Singh fell while trying to a save a bag kept on the two-wheeler’s fuel tank,” Nahargarh police station in-charge Prabhat Gaud said.

“Singh’s wife Sitabai and six-year-old daughter drowned while passersby saved the other daughter. A search is underway for the man,” he informed.

In Jabalpur district, Kanha aka Reshu Dahiya and Ravendra Thakur, both 17, drowned while taking bath in Kanadi river in Khadwal village, Sub Divisional officer of Police (SDOP) Parul Sharma said.

“Reshu Dahiya went into deep water and drowned, while Ravendra died in a bid to rescue his friend. The bodies were fished out on Sunday evening,” the SDOP said.