Rescue personnel during a search operation in the Yamuna river, near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan
Agra: Two more bodies have been recovered from the Yamuna in Vrindavan on Sunday, taking the death toll to 13 in Friday’s accident in which a motorboat carrying devotees, mostly from Punjab, capsized after hitting a pontoon bridge.
Police said search operations are on for three missing devotees.An initial probe has found that the boatman carried more passengers than the permitted capacity and did not provide safety kits. The contractor was pulling a section of the floating bridge without prior notice, and there were no security measures near the pontoon pool.District magistrate CP Singh said, “A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the motorboat operator and the pontoon bridge contractor.
They have been arrested. Additional DM (finance and revenue) Pankaj Verma is also conducting a probe, and action will be taken against all individuals responsible for the tragedy.”The body of Rishabh Sharma (22) was found nearly 3 km downstream from the accident site, while the other corpse was of a 21-year-old woman, Diki Bansal. Both were from Punjab’s Ludhiana.SP (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said family members identified the two bodies.
The three missing devotees are Pankaj Malhotra, Yash Bhalla and Monica. Their family members have reached Vrindavan and are camping near the ghats, hoping for good news to arrive.Yash’s father, Rakesh Bhalla, told TOI, “I came from Ludhiana after hearing the news of the tragedy. Yash, 20, was playing dholak as the people were singing bhajans. He was studying in 12th grade.”Mathura additional DM Amreesh Kumar said, “Rescue ops start at 6 am. NDRF, SDRF, PAC and local police have intensified their search for the remaining three.”DSP Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors, each under an SHO, for the search operation.On Friday, a boat carrying 38 pilgrims from Punjab capsized after hitting a floating drum of a pontoon bridge near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
