It was a black Holi for the family of five who drowned in the river Yamuna while taking a dip on Monday evening. They had gone to the river bank after Holi revelry and apparently died as they ventured into the deep waters and were too drunk to swim to safety. Divers of Delhi Fire Service were pressed into service and they recovered five bodies from the bed of the river. The deceased have been identified as Suresh (23), Praveen (23), Govind (25), Dheeraj (23) and Gopesh (23). Suresh works as a home guard in Police headquarters.
According to the police, the incident tool place on Monday around 4 pm when seven friends had gone to take a dip in the river. All of them were playing Holi till about 3 pm and when they started getting calls from their family members, they decided to take a dip and then return home. The two friends who survived are Mithun and Anish. Eyewitnesses claimed that they all were first consuming liquor near the river bank before going to take a dip. While six of them jumped into the water, Anish stood outside clicking pictures. Suddenly Praveen’s leg slipped and in an attempt to save him, all of them went ahead into the murky waters. “Anish somehow managed to save Mithun since he was closer to the river bank but failed to find his friends. A PCR call was made at 4.20 pm,” said a police official. Divers of Fire Services were called in and the bodies were fished out an hour later. They were rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Police officials have ruled out any foul play as it was accidental. They entered the river on of their own volition and could not swim to safety in their inebriated state. The family members refused a post-mortem examination and the bodies were handed over to them after preliminary investigation. Praveen worked at a cloth house in Chandni Chowk whereas Dheeraj and Gopesh ran a cyber café in the area.