Ludhiana: 27-year-old drowns in Sutlej during visarjan
A 27-year-old man drowned in the Sutlej River while immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha, officials aware of the matter said.
A 27-year-old man drowned in the Sutlej River while immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha, officials aware of the matter said.
They added that seven others had a narrow escape as they managed to pull themselves out from the heavy flow of water.
The deceased was identified as Harsh Kumar Mehra of Killa Mohalla. He was a factory worker. The body was fished out on Saturday evening.
Victim’s father Sanjeev Kumar said the locals had installed the idol for Ganesh Chaturthi. This year, they had a 10-feet tall idol. On Friday evening, Harsh and seven other locals went to immerse the idol in Sutlej.
Sanjeev added that they left the house around 5.30 pm. After reaching the river, they prayed and as they went into the water to immerse the idol, they were stuck in a strong current. The seven other people managed to pull themselves out but Harsh could not as he was stuck under the idol, he said.
He added that Harsh’s friends raised an alarm, but to no avail. They alerted the Ladhowal police, who pressed divers in service for his rescue. They fished out the body on Saturday morning.
Ladhowal station-house officer (SHO) inspector Harpreet Singh said that soon after receiving information, police initiated a rescue operation. The body has been sent to the local civil hospital for a post-mortem. The police have inquest proceedings.
The inspector added that Harsh and others had little idea about the water level in the river and they went too deep, and lost balance.