Jaipur (Rajasthan): At least 10 people drowned in three separate incidents during the immersion of Goddess Durga idols in Rajasthan on Wednesday, police said. One incident occurred at Nandla village under the Nasirabad Sadar police station in Ajmer where the youths had gone to immerse the idol.
Ajmer Superintendent of Police Chuna Ram Jat said the ditch is used for idol immersion by locals often, but it appeared they had no idea of the depth this time around. He said five bodies were recovered initially, but later it was reported one more person was missing following which a rescue operation was started.
The sixth body was recovered in the evening, he said. SHO Hemraj said the victim thought it was a shallow ditch and went down "but the ditch was deep and they all drowned." Ajmer collector Ansh Deep, SP Chuna Ram Jat and other district administration and police officials rushed to Nasirabad as soon as they received information about the incident.
The police identified the deceased as Pawan Raigar (35), Gajendra Raigar (28), Rahul Meghwal (24), Lucky Bairwa (21) Rahul Raigar (20) and Shankar whose age was not immediately known. The five bodies which were recovered initially were handed over to family members after postmortem and their funeral was conducted.
Shankar's body, which was recovered later, will be handed over to his family on Thursday, the officials said. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over the incident. "I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved family, may God give them strength to bear this loss and may the soul of the departed rest in peace," Gehlot tweeted.
Meanwhile, three children died due to drowning during idol immersion in Nimbahera of Chittorgarh. The bodies of the three children were taken out of the water and brought to the district hospital in Nimbahera. Nimbahera Sadar and Kotwali police reached the spot and started the investigation.
The third incident happened during idol immersion in Basedi police station area of Dholpur. A 20-year-old youth died due to drowning during idol immersion. After the incident, the SDRF team reached the spot and fished the dead body after about 2 hours. The deceased youth was identified as Angad. CM Ashok Gehlot, BJP State President Satish Poonia expressed grief over the deaths.
