Man, nephew drown during Ganesh immersion in Rajkot

Two persons were drowned while participating in the rituals of Ganesh immersion. The incident took place when they went into the waters to immerse the idol. Suddenly, they were washed away by strong currents.

Rajkot:In a tragic incident a man and his nephew drowned during immersion of Lord Ganesh's idol in Aaji Dam in Gujarat's Rajkot. Their bodies were fished out and sent for post-mortem. Police said investigations have been initiated.

Around seven members of a family went to participate in Ganesh immersion rituals in the afternoon. Among them, three members including the man and his nephew went into the water for immersing the idol. Suddenly two of them slipped and were washed away by strong currents.

The entire incident has been captured in a video that was shot during the immersion process. In the video, the two are seen struggling to come out of the waters.

Devotees who had gathered there to carry out immersions raised an alarm. A search operation was immediately launched to retrieve the bodies. Later, police reached the spot and professional swimmers were pressed into action.

After sometime, the two bodies were fished out. The two died on the spot and police shifted their bodies to Rajkot Civil Hospital for post-mortem. The incident has descended a pall of gloom in the entire area.

The deceased have been identified as Harsh Goswami and his nephew Ketan. Vipulgiri Goswami, a family member said that he had gone with his family to take part in the immersion arrangements of their idol of Lord Ganesha. "During immersion, Harsh and Ketan were washed away by strong currents and were drowned. We tried to rescue them but our efforts went in vain," he said.

Police said that the incident of drowning occurred during Ganesh immersion. A probe is underway into the matter, police added.