‘Told him to be careful, not go too deep’: Delhi cop takes a dip in Yamuna during ritual — goes missing

On Wednesday, Sanjay took off his uniform and placed it on his bike. He told the priest he would return shortly and assured a vagabond that he had food for him. He then went for his dip — and never returned.

More than 30 hours after he went missing, his body has yet to be found, a police officer said.

Shashi Rajan (25), Sanjay’s younger son, said, “I told him to be careful, not go too deep… because of the Yamuna levels, you know… But it’s a tradition he has been following since 2021.”

“He took a dip on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday was the last day.”

According to a police officer, Sanjay “placed his uniform on his bike, removed his shoes, and told the priest he would be back.”

Shashi said the priest went to clean the ghats. About 30 minutes later, he realised Sanjay wasn’t back. Unable to find him anywhere, the priest made a call to the Police Control Room.

Fire tenders, boat club teams, and Delhi Police personnel from Timarpur police station rushed to the spot and started a search operation, the police officer said.

“The search operations continued till Wednesday evening, but Sanjay was not found. The operations were halted at night,” the officer said.

On Thursday morning, the rescue squad gathered again, along with National Disaster Response Force personnel, and started the search afresh.

“I rushed to the ghat at 11 am on Wednesday. I went again today with the rescue team. They will try again on Friday — hopefully until his body is found. They told me it might come ashore tomorrow,” Shashi said.

Sanjay, a 1996-batch officer, is survived by his wife, elder son Ravi Ranjan (27), and Shashi. The family lives in Keshav Nagar Enclave. Ravi is deployed with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), while Shashi has completed his graduation.