Four DU students drown in Yamuna during Ganesh idol immersion

NEW DELHI: Four persons drowned in the Yamuna in outer Delhi’s Alipur during Ganesh idol immersion Thursday evening. All four were residents of Delhi’s Nihal Vihar and were students of Delhi University.

Police said the incident took placewhen a total of eight persons had entered the Yamuna to bathe, despite being told not to go into the river owing to lack of light and depth of water. While four of them came out, four did not. While two bodies were retrieved late in the night, two bodies were recovered from the nearby Palla Bakhtawarpur village Friday morning. Police identified the four as Umesh Yadav (20), Priyanka (20), Pinki Shah (21) and Nikit (21).

Deputy commissioner of police (outer north) Gaurav Sharma said the police control room received a call around 9pm that four persons had drowned in the Yamuna near in Alipur. A man who saw them drowning also alerted the fire control room.

Police said they have informed the family members of the four.

During the enquiry, it was learnt that a group of 30 devotees from Nihal Vihar had come to Yamuna Ghat near thokar number 17 in Alipur to immerse the idols, a police officer said.

“They were stopped at Shani Mandir and Bakhtawarpur, and advised by civil defence and police staff to avoid bathing in the river,” DCP Sharma said, adding that the group initially agreed but eventually eight of them entered the river.

The bodies of the four were handed over to their families after autopsy on Friday.