TWO MEN from Pune drowned at Tarkarli beach in Sindhudurg district while a third youth was rescued in critical condition on Saturday morning. This is the third incident since December last year where tourists from Pune have drowned at beaches in Konkan. The incident took place at the beach in Tarkarli in Malvan taluka of Sindhudurg district around 11.30 am on Saturday, when a group of five friends from Pune had come to the popular beach for an outing. "Information obtained from locals suggests the five friends entered the waters some time before 11 am. They moved further into the sea, gauging the depth and the waves. As three of them started to drown, people close by raised an alarm. Locals at the beach and some staffers of a water sports club rushed to their rescue." said an officer from Malvan police station. "Three youths were taken out by the locals. Two of them were unresponsive and the third was in critical condition. They were rushed to a local private hospital where the two were pronounced dead and the third is currently under treatment." the officer added. Police identified the deceased as Rohit Balasaheb Koli (21) and Shubham Sunil Sonavane (22), both residents of Hadapsar in Pune. Their friend, who was under treatment, has been identified as Omkar Ashok Bhosale (23). "We will be recording statements of the two friends who were with these three persons to understand the sequence of events leading to the incident," the officer said. On the afternoon of December 31, a 31-year-old man from Pune's Janata Vasahat drowned in the sea at Kashid beach in Raigad district when he had gone to the location for a New Year's celebration. On December 27, the principal of a Pune school drowned in sea at Kashid beach. The deceased, identified as Dharmendra Deshmukh (55), principal of Mahatma Jyotirav Phule High School in Pisoli in Haveli taluka of Pune district, was a part of a group of about 12 people, mainly teachers, who had gone to Raigad for a picnic at Kashid beach.
