18-yr-old feared drowned at Aksa Beach

An 18-year-old student, Nidhesh Ratnakar Shetty, is feared to have drowned after he went for a swim with friends at Aksa beach in Malad (west) on Monday morning. His body is yet to be found.

An 18-year-old student, Nidhesh Ratnakar Shetty, is feared to have drowned after he went for a swim with friends at Aksa beach in Malad (west) on Monday morning. His body is yet to be found.

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This makes it the eighth drowning at a city beach this month. Shetty, a management student of Thakur College and resident of Thakur Village, left with 12 friends for Aksa beach around 9am.

At 10.30am, the youngsters decided to go for a swim. While most of them stayed close to the shore, Shetty and two friends ventured into the sea.

“Owing to the monsoon and the high tide, the sea is rough and it started pulling them in. His friends managed to swim back, but Shetty did not return,” said Abdulrauf Shaikh, senior inspector, Malvani police station.

Shetty’s friends called the police control and the fire brigade when they realised that he had not returned. Lifeguards went into the sea, but his body has not been found. The search is underway.

“Signboards prohibit people from swimming at the spot from where Shetty and his friends entered the sea. The sea bed has a slope there so people are vulnerable to mishaps,” he said.