Search Called Off at Nightfall, NDRF Team to Resume Hunt Monday
Key Points:
- Raju Singh drowns while bathing at Pahadbhanga picnic spot
- Friend Mukesh Singh also swept into deep water, escapes
- NDRF team to join search operation on Monday
POTKA – A twenty-year-old youth drowned while bathing in the Pahadbhanga river, a popular picnic spot in Potka police station area, on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Raju Singh, a resident of Telco’s Azad Basti in Jamshedpur. News of the incident quickly created panic across the locality.
According to information received, Singh had gone to Pahadbhanga for a picnic around three in the afternoon on Sunday. He was accompanied by his friends Mukesh Singh, Pramod Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar and Virendra Singh.
Following the picnic, Singh entered the river to bathe along with two friends, Mukesh and Rajesh. While bathing, he gradually drifted into deeper water and began to struggle.
Mukesh, who was bathing alongside him, attempted to pull him to safety. In the process, Mukesh himself was pulled into the deep water but managed to swim out.
However, Singh could not make it out of the deep water. He is feared to have drowned in the river.
Potka police station in-charge Sunny Toppo reached Pahadbhanga with a police team soon after the incident was reported. Villagers assisted officers in searching the river for Singh.
Despite the search efforts, his whereabouts could not be traced before nightfall. Authorities suspect he died after drowning in the deep water.
Toppo said Singh’s father, Rajesh Singh, has been informed about the incident. The search will resume on Monday with assistance from an NDRF team.
The incident adds to a series of drowning cases reported recently in the wider Potka and Jamshedpur region. Similar tragedies have struck other rivers in the state, including a case where a youth swept away at a Rajnagar check dam, and another where villagers swept away in Saranda’s Kuili river. Potka has also seen other recent tragedies, including a truck accident death that led to a road blockade nearby.
