Bodies of three drowned teens found, search on for fourth boy

Bodies of Shubham Bhogania, 16, Manish Bhogania, 15, and Dharmesh Bhujiya, 16, were recovered on Tuesday while search operations for Jay Tajpariya, 16, was on late in the night. The bodies were handed over to the family on Tuesday. All four were residents of Datta Mandir road in Vakola.

Mumbai: Of the four teenagers who drowned off the Juhu Koliwada beach on Monday evening, the bodies of three were recovered from around the beach by the police and fire brigade on Tuesday.

Mumbai, India - June 13, 2023: Body of one of the four teenaged boys who drowned on Monday found after search and rescue operations, at Juhu Koliwada Beach, Santacruz (West), in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.(Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Bodies of Shubham Bhogania, 16, Manish Bhogania, 15, and Dharmesh Bhujiya, 16, were recovered on Tuesday while search operations for Jay Tajpariya, 16, was on late in the night.

As per Mumbai Fire Brigade, heavy winds and rough sea owing to Cyclone Biparjoy made the search and rescue operations difficult. After suspending the operations at 11 pm on Monday, the search and rescue efforts resumed on Tuesday morning, along with fire officials and lifeguards, helicopters from Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard were also pressed into service.

Sachin Talekar, assistant divisional fire officer, said, “Bodies of three have been recovered and one is still missing. Search operations are underway. Yesterday, the sea was extremely rough making it very difficult for anyone to go inside. The winds were so strong that even we, fire officials, had to hold each other and stand at the jetty while looking to rescue.”

“Today, after we resumed operations, we saw one body near the Jetty. Our firemen and lifeguards jumped in using ropes and ring and recovered the body,” added Talekar.

The bodies of the three teenagers were handed over to the family on Tuesday. All four were residents of Datta Mandir road in Vakola. At 7:30pm in a narrow chawl lane, the atmosphere was sombre. The tiny houses, all in close vicinity, were home to the teenagers. The final rites of those who had been cremated were being carried out.

Neighbours and relatives stood perched on the ledges of the shops. Passersby went through, the cobblestones wet and dirty from the rain. The neighbourhood, said one of its members, is tight knit and comes out in large numbers on all occasions. They enquired if the families, two out of the three of whom are helmed by widows, would receive any help.

It was this way with the boys as well, who, according to a neighbour Hasmukh R Kavithiya, were born and brought up together. They were tight. Shubham worked as a distributor and earned around ₹10,000 a month, supporting the family as his father is deceased. His brother, Manish was on his way to the 10th grade.

Dharmesh helped his ailing mother carry her load of saris as she went door to door selling them. With a brother who is mentally challenged and a deceased father, the burden of the family was on him. Jay was a grade behind Manish in the same Gujarati-medium school near the station, Sheth Chimanlal Nathuram High School.

The friends were fond of shooting reels at various locations, be it Gateway of India or Bandra Bandstand. However, they were only out to play on the day of the incident. According to Hasmukh, they’d gotten muddy, and hence decided to go to Chowpatty to wash up. The lifeguard there shooed them away, leading them to venture to the empty Koliwada.

“There are fewer people today. But if you’d come yesterday, you’d have seen it was brimming with people,” said Hasmukh. “It was because we were all standing and demanded it, that the government sent out the helicopters and boats to search for them.”