Surat: Attempting to take birthday selfie, 20-year-old drowns after boat overturns in Tapi
His two friends managed to swim to safety; deceased's body fished out with the help of an anchor after scuba divers failed to locate him due to the depth of the river, police said
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Attempting to take a birthday selfie, 20 year old man drowned in Surat (Representational Image/File Photo)A boat ride with two friends on his birthday turned fatal for a 20-year-old man in Surat who drowned in the Tapi river after the vessel overturned while he was attempting to take a selfie, police said.
The incident took place late on Sunday afternoon.
The deceased was identified as Rushikesh Nishad, an undergraduate student.
According to the details received from the Fire department, Nishad had celebrated his birthday with family members and relatives on Sunday afternoon. After cutting cake at his home, he informed his parents that he was going out with friends, police added.
Along with his friends Sunny Yadav and Madhav Yadav, Nishad left his home, situated in the Kosad EWS quarter of Amroli area, for the banks of Tapi River near Gaushala in the Chhaprabhata area, police sources said. At the banks, the trio found a small, unmanned boat and decided to take it into the Tapi by themselves, the sources added.
As they reached the middle of the river, Nishad took out his mobile phone to take a selfie. But as he sat on the edge, the boat overturned and the three men fell into the river, said police.
While Sunny and Madhav managed to swim over to safety, Nishad drowned, police said. Meanwhile, Sunny and Madhav alerted the Fire Department and informed Nishad’s family about the incident.
A 10-member team of Kosad fire station reached the spot and started a search operation. First, they attempted to look for Nishad with the help of scuba divers but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Kosad fire station sub officer Maruti Sonavne said, “We tried our best, but it (the river) was too deep. After our scuba divers failed to locate the body, we used an anchor tied with a long rope and dropped it into the river. Nishad’s body was fished out after two hours of search operation.”
The body was handed over to Singhanpore police officers, who took it to SMIMER hospital for post-mortem. Nishad’s body was handed back to his family who later cremated him.
Singhanpore police said the deceased was a first-year BA student at MTB College in Surat. His father Ramcharan works as a painter at construction sites.
Police have recorded the statements of Sunny and Madhav and an Accidental Death report has been filed in the matter.
Police said Nishad’s family hails from Uttar Pradesh and has been living in Surat for the last 15 years.
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