5 drowning incidents, 20 mobile thefts reported during Ganesh immersion in Pune

Two siblings drowned in the Gaidara lake of Vadki in one incident, while two boys from Wakad and an 18-year-old drowned in two other separate incidents on Tuesday.

Five people died in three separate incidents in Pune during the immersion of Ganpati idols on Tuesday.

Despite several measures taken to protect people during the Ganpati immersion, five people have died. (HT Photo)

Two siblings drowned in the Gaidara lake of Wadki in one incident, while two boys from Wakad and an 18-year-old also drowned in two other separate incidents on Tuesday. While the main immersion procession passing through city areas was largely peaceful, there were around 20 complaints of mobile theft at Vishrambaug and Faraaskhana police station. The police officials said there were a least three incidents of jewellery getting stolen from the procession.

“The police arrested one person for mobile theft. Other cases are being probed,” Iqbal Shaikh, constable from Faraaskhana police station said.

According to fire brigade officials, two school-going teens, Sonaji Dhanaji Shelke (15) and Pawan Sudamrao Varkhad (17), of Balewadi, drowned in the Mula river. These two were in the river for the Ganpati immersion. Fire brigade officials, along with life guards, conducted the search and at around 9 pm, Pawan's body was recovered.

“We carried out seven hours of rescue operation. At the end of it we recovered two bodies from Mula river,” said Uday Wankhede, Fire Brigade Official.

In a second incident, two siblings drowned in the Gaidara lake of Wadki. This incident took place around 9:30 pm during the immersion.The deceased were identified as Omkar Satish Jagtap (13) and Rohit Satish Jagtap (9) both residents of Wadki.

In the third incident at Markal in Khed taluka, an 18-year-old youth, Akash Sunil Verpe (18), drowned in the Indrayani river during the immersion.This incident happened around 1.30 pm on Tuesday.