Following statement received by one of the survivors on Tuesday, a magisterial probe has been ordered by the district magistrate into the death of three by drowning in Ganga. Notably, on Tuesday evening, five youths of lakhimpur Kheri village of Uttar Pradesh had gone to Mahila ghat of Ganga to bathe and three died after being washed away. While the police have attributed their death to their getting swept away by the swirl one of the survivors have blamed electric current running in the iron string tied to the ghats to support the bathers for the deaths of three of his companions.
The district magistrate Harbans Singh Chugh has ordered magisterial probe into the matter and announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the families of each of the victims. Speaking to The Pioneer, one of the survivors Pavan said, “As we touched the metal string tied on to the ghats we got sort of electric current and fell into the river. Our other friends were drowning though we could somehow keep ourselves afloat.”
It is being alleged that during Ardh Kumbh Mela, temporary electricity connections were given to the contractor. However, when the mela was over the contractors hurriedly removed the connections without taking care of security hassles.
As per the police, as the five youths had been swept away in the fast –flowing current of Ganga they recovered them and sent them to the district hospital where the doctors declared three- Gyanu, Hemu and Chhotu- as dead while Pavan and Gopi were saved.
Speaking to The Pioneer, the in-charge Har Ki Pauri police station M S Negi said, “Chhotu jumped to catch the clothes that fell into the river and was caught in the swirl. To save him, the other four dived, one by one. The local people witnessing the incident raised alarm and informed the police. Receiving information when our team reached they recovered the drowning boys. Unfortunately, three could not have been saved.”
The deceased have been identified as Hemant Kumar alias Hemu(21), resident of Patel Nagar, Omkar Chaurasia alias Chhotu (20) of Bahadur Nagar, Pavan and Gopi resident of Gola Road in lakhimpuri, Uttar Pradesh.