Ashish Shukla, a second-year MBA student, had gone to Valmiki Ghat near Roorkee Municipal Corporation office with friends on the evening of Feb 11. Police said he lost his balance while getting up from the steps of the ghat and fell into the deep canal around 7pm.His friends tried to rescue him by tying their clothes to form a makeshift rope, but were unsuccessful as Shukla was unable to grab hold of it and was swept away.
A Jal Police unit and local divers launched a search operation the same night but failed to trace him.The next day, canal water was regulated from Haridwar to aid the search. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Army’s Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) personnel joined Jal Police in efforts to trace Shukla, but could not locate him.After five days, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was roped in and a massive operation was launched on Monday with a joint team of 100 personnel. They conducted a five-hour search covering a 17-km stretch using sonar systems and underwater drones.The search resumed Tuesday morning and officials spotted the body. “We conducted the post-mortem and handed over the body to the family,” SP (Rural) SC Suyal said.
