Unnao (Uttar Pradesh): The body of a government officer in Uttar Pradesh who drowned in Ganga here on Saturday is yet to be found, with authorities now roping in NDRF divers for the search operation.
Aditya Vardhan Gaurav (44), who worked as deputy director in the health department in Banaras, had visited Nanamau Ghat in Unnao district to take a bath in the Ganga with his three other friends.
A resident of Kabirpur Khambauli village of Behta Mujawar police station area, Gaurav, while bathing suddenly went into deep waters and was swept away by strong currents in the blink of an eye.
Boatman Demanded Rs 10,000
While he was drowning, Gaurav raised both his hands above the water and pleaded for help but his friends couldn't manage to pull him back. According to Pradeep Kumar Tiwari, the deceased officer's friend who accompanied him, he requested a local boatman Shailesh Kashyap, who was on the boat at the ghat, to save the drowning deputy director.
On this, the boatman demanded Rs 10,000 to be transferred to his bank account immediately before he attempted the rescue. Tiwari said he transferred the money into the boatman's account but by then it was too late as Aditya Vardhan was not visible anymore. Later, the boatman left his boat on the banks of the Ganga and fled from the spot.
As soon as the family got the information about the incident, there was an uproar in the area, especially since the family of the officer is highly connected in the state. One of his cousins is a senior IAS officer of Bihar cadre, and the deceased's wife Shreya Mishra is posted as a judge in Akola district of Maharashtra.
Since Saturday, rescue operations have been going on in Unnao and Kanpur in search of the drowned officer but so far his body has not been found. As many as 75 policemen including SDRA, NDRF officials have been deployed. Divers have also been engaged in the search as rescue teams are looking within a radius of 30 km.
A high-profile Family
The deceased Aditya Vardhan Gaurav belonged to a high-profile family comprising IAS officers, judges, and doctors. Gaurav's father Ramesh Chandra is a retired engineer of the irrigation department and is currently living in the Aliganj locality of Lucknow. While Gaurav's wife is a judge in Maharashtra, his sister is currently posted in Australia in a high-level position.
According to family members, Ramesh Chandra had gone to Australia a few days ago to meet his daughter. Chandra has left Australia soon after he got the shocking news of his son's death. Anupam Singh, son of Aditya Vardhan Gaurav's uncle Shivkumar Kannaujia, is a senior IAS officer in Bihar province and has been posted in many high positions including District Magistrate in about a dozen districts including Patna. At present, he is the personal secretary of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Shivkumar Kannaujia's daughter is a senior doctor in Noida.
On Sunday, Anupam Singh, who was present at the Ganga bank, called the administration and demanded the NDRF team for the search operation. Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanpur Nagar reached the Ganga bank and monitored the search operation for several hours, but even after 48 hours, the body of the Deputy Director was not found. The search operation resumed on Monday.
