Two feared drowned during funeral ritual bath in Ganga, one rescued

Shivkuti police arrived at the site upon receiving information about the incident and engaged divers and fishermen to locate the two missing persons, but in vain.

PRAYAGRAJ Two Pratapgarh residents are feared to have drowned, while one was saved by local fishermen at Rasulabad Ghat on Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred when a group of people, who had arrived at Rasulabad Ghat to perform the last rites of a man, started drowning while bathing in the river as part of the traditions.

Representative pic (PTI)

Shivkuti police arrived at the site upon receiving information about the incident and engaged divers and fishermen to locate the two missing persons, but in vain. The search will resume on Sunday.

According to reports, Awadhesh Kumar, a resident of Malhupur village in the Delhipur area of Pratapgarh, passed away on Friday due to cardiac arrest. On Saturday, family members and villagers had come to Rasulabad Ghat with the body to perform his last rites.

After the last rites, people began bathing in the Ganga. Although most came out of the river safely, Sitaram Yadav (60) and his cousin Krishna Kumar Yadav (50), along with Nankau Saroj (17) from the same village, ventured into deeper waters and started drowning. Hearing their cries for help, local fishermen rushed in and managed to rescue Nankau, but Sitaram and Krishna Kumar were swept away by the currents.

Despite hours of searching by divers engaged by the police until sunset, they could not be found. Sanjay Gupta, the SHO of Shivkuti Police station, mentioned that an NDRF team would be deployed on Sunday to search for the drowned individuals.