2 college students from Mumbai drown in Ganga during trip to Rishikesh
Representational Image. Courtesy: iimg.in
Two college students from Mumbai are feared drowned after having dived into the Ganga river from a cliff off Neem Beach in Rishikesh on Monday.
The youths, in their 20s, were identified as Vinay Sethi and Karan Jadhav. Both were final year Banking and Finance (BAF) students at Thakur College of Science & Commerce in Kandivli. Sethi was a Bandra resident while Jadhav lived in Mira Road.
The duo were a part of a eleven-member group which had gone to Rishikesh to celebrate the New Year.
The group had reached Rishikesh on Sunday, where they partied that night, and went for river-rafting the next day.
NS Napalchiyal, superintendent of police (SP) in Tehri district confirmed that the students had taken part in river rafting on the stretch from Shivpuri to Neem beach on Monday morning.
After completing the activity, they travelled to a cliff near Neem beach and dived into the river. While, they were successful the first two times, strong currents of the Ganga swept them away when they dived the third time.
Their respective parents have been informed about the mishap and are expected to reach Uttarakhand today.
Meanwhile, an official from Thakur College confirmed that the students were not an official college trip.
A team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), equipped with rafts and other necessary equipment, has launched search operation to locate the youth. However, no bodies have been found till now.
In 2015, Aabida Hasan, daughter of UP labour minister Shahid Manzoor had also drowned in the Ganga on her trip to Rishikesh.
