Fearing Cops, 4 Youths Jump Into Pond; 3 Drown, 1 Survives
The tragedy occurred in the Chaupati area in Shahdol town at around nine pm on Monday: Reports
BHOPAL: In a bizarre incident, four youths in district headquarters of Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh jumped into a pond after noticing a mobile police vehicle, leading three of them to drown, officials said on Tuesday.
The other youth survived by swimming to safety, police said.
The tragedy occurred in the Chaupati area in Shahdol town at around nine pm on Monday, according to the police.
Police teams from Sohagpur and Kotwali police stations rushed to the spot to rescue the three youths.
A team of State Disaster Rapid Action Force (SDRAF) was also deployed for the purpose.
The SDRAF team retrieved the bodies of three youths after a three-hour-long search, police said.
The three victims were rushed to the district hospital in Shahdol where doctors declared them dead, police said.
Later, the kin of the deceased created a ruckus in the hospital alleging negligence in the treatment of the victims.
Senior district officials intervened in the matter and successfully pacified the irate people.
The kin of the deceased claimed that the four youths jumped into the pond after noticing a mobile police van.
“Fear of khaki triggered them to take extreme step”, they alleged.
Local city superintendent police (CSP) Rajendra Mohan Dubey while confirming the death of three youths however said that the reason for these youths taking such a step was yet to be ascertained.
He said that a probe was ordered into the matter.
Shahdol district collector Parth Jaiswal has constituted a three-member committee to probe the incident.
The three slain youths were identified as Sameer Vamskar, Gaurav Vamskar, and Durgesh Vamskar, police said.
The survivor was identified as Puspendra alias Pankaj.
