Three feared dead after car plunges into Alaknanda

Three people are feared to have drowned when the vehicle they were travelling in fell into Alaknanda River near Devprayag in Tehri District on Sunday. The accident probably occurred in the wee hours of Sunday when the Bolero carrying three people plunged into the swollen Alaknanda.  Some locals in the morning discovered that the river side retaining the wall of the road was broken near Mollya village on Devprayag-Srinagar route. They also noticed a spare wheel of a SUV near the river and informed local police at 8.45 am.

The Superintendent of Police, Tehri Mukhtar Mohsin informed The Pioneer that policemen from Dev Prayag police station rushed to the accident spot and seized a travel bag, mobile phones and two wallets. The team also noticed blood stains over some stones near the river. The SP said that the identities of the victims were discovered from their identity cards. He informed that police found phone numbers of their family from their mobile phones and informed them.  

It was learnt that trio of Rahul Sisodia, Ashutosh Sharma and Shashi Kant worked in Mahendra and Mahendra company in Gurgaon and left home on August 07. The three reportedly visited Badrinath shrine and were in Mana village on Saturday. Their family members told the Police that they had send the pictures of Mana village on WhatsApp.

The SP said that the rescue teams consisting of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police and Jal police are conducting a search operation in the Alaknanda River. It is believed that the three are washed away in the river. The In charge of Dev Prayag police station Hemant Khanduri said that rescue teams had no trace of the victims when the operation was suspended due to darkness on Sunday. He said that a fresh effort would be made on Monday morning.