Four MP youths drown in lake while immersing Ganesha idol

Four youths, including two brothers, on Thursday drowned while immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha at a lake in Salana area here.

Four youths, including two brothers, on Thursday drowned while immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha at a lake in Salana area here.

The incident occured when the youth were trying to immerse their Ganesha idol in a lake. (AP)

Holding a civic official responsible for the mishap, irate relatives of the victims thrashed him, after which he was taken to a hospital here.

“The incident of drowning took place around 6 pm, when the victims were immersing their Ganesha idol at the lake situated on the bypass road, around 20 km from here,” District collector B Chandrashekhar said.

Two brothers -- Kamlesh (22) and Vishal (20) -- and two other youths, Ankit (21) and Kunal (22), met with watery graves. Their bodies were immediately recovered and sent to a hospital, he added.

Jiwanrai Mathur, who had been given the additional charge of Chief Municipal Officer (CMO), reached the hospital where the kin of the deceased thrashed him alleging that he had not made proper arrangements for immersion at the lake, an eyewitness said.

“Mathur, who sustained major injuries to his legs, was rushed to a hospital in Ratlam,” a policeman said.

A high-level inquiry was ordered into the incident, the collector said, adding that Rs 4 lakh will be given to the family members of each victim.

An order has been issued to remove Mathur from the additional charge of Salana CMO, Chandrashekhar said.