Varanasi: Three women and two children missing after boat capsizes Ganges Even three days after the tragic incident near Akhara Ghat in Vindhyachal, the divers and policemen engaged in the rescue operation could not be traced.
The five missing are feared to have drowned.
Vindhyachal police arrested the boatman and photographer for pressurizing the family for a boat ride from Ranchi.
Mirzapur SP Ajay Kumar said, ‘Sailor Gautam and photographer Pradeep Nishad of Tawaripur area were arrested by Vindhyachal police from Amravati intersection on Saturday morning. Suspected families from Jharkhand and Bihar had lodged FIRs against Gautam and Pradeep alleging that they pressured them to go to the opposite bank to take a bath, despite restrictions imposed by the district administration.
Police said the duo had overloaded the boat on the opposite shore, carrying more passengers than its actual capacity. The pilgrims on the boat asked Gautam and Pradeep to wait as it started raining heavily but they crossed the boat and it capsized in the middle.
On September 8, Rajesh Tiwari of Ghuraha, Ranchi, Jharkhand, and Vikas Kumar Ojha, his relative from Buxar, along with 10 family members and a driver had reached Vindhyachal to offer prayers at the temple. Before going to the temple, they went to the Akhara Ghat to bathe in the holy Ganges, when Gautam and Pradeep convinced them to take a boat ride to the opposite bank.
Tiwari, Vikas (28), Deepak (27), Alka (9), Ritika (7) and their driver were rescued by locals and other boatmen, while Gudiya (28), Khushboo (30), Anisha (26), Satyam (5), fear of drowning of two-year-old Shaurya and three-month-old girl child.
Apart from divers, NDRF personnel are also engaged in the rescue operation to trace the missing people. Police said Shaurya’s body was found by Friday, but the other five are still missing and hence the search operation is on.
The five missing are feared to have drowned.
Vindhyachal police arrested the boatman and photographer for pressurizing the family for a boat ride from Ranchi.
Mirzapur SP Ajay Kumar said, ‘Sailor Gautam and photographer Pradeep Nishad of Tawaripur area were arrested by Vindhyachal police from Amravati intersection on Saturday morning. Suspected families from Jharkhand and Bihar had lodged FIRs against Gautam and Pradeep alleging that they pressured them to go to the opposite bank to take a bath, despite restrictions imposed by the district administration.
Police said the duo had overloaded the boat on the opposite shore, carrying more passengers than its actual capacity. The pilgrims on the boat asked Gautam and Pradeep to wait as it started raining heavily but they crossed the boat and it capsized in the middle.
On September 8, Rajesh Tiwari of Ghuraha, Ranchi, Jharkhand, and Vikas Kumar Ojha, his relative from Buxar, along with 10 family members and a driver had reached Vindhyachal to offer prayers at the temple. Before going to the temple, they went to the Akhara Ghat to bathe in the holy Ganges, when Gautam and Pradeep convinced them to take a boat ride to the opposite bank.
Tiwari, Vikas (28), Deepak (27), Alka (9), Ritika (7) and their driver were rescued by locals and other boatmen, while Gudiya (28), Khushboo (30), Anisha (26), Satyam (5), fear of drowning of two-year-old Shaurya and three-month-old girl child.
Apart from divers, NDRF personnel are also engaged in the rescue operation to trace the missing people. Police said Shaurya’s body was found by Friday, but the other five are still missing and hence the search operation is on.
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