Man, son drown in pit at Mohali

Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 30

A father-son duo drowned in a pit near the Sector 88/96 chowk near Manka Majra village here this afternoon.

The victims have been identified as Suresh (35), an auto driver, and his nine-year-old son Aman. 

The incident occurred around 1.30 pm today. Suresh drowned in the nearly 15-foot-deep pit while trying to save his sons, Aman and Rohit, who fell into the pit when they were washing their hands after answering the call of nature.

According to the police, Sector 56 resident Suresh, along with his wife Soma Devi and two sons, had come here to meet his in-laws, who live in hutments located near the pit in Sector 88. 

The police said Aman and Rohit, along with their friends, went to nearby fields to answer the call of nature. “Then they came near the pit to wash their hands. Aman and Rohit fell into the pit. Their friends raised the alarm following which Suresh came to the rescue his children. While Rohit was saved, Suresh got trapped in the slush,” said the police. 

Suresh’s wife Soma Devi and sister-in-law Channo also jumped into the pit but could not save Suresh and Aman. Aman’s body was recovered around an hour after the incident.  The president of Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan Committee, Bhupinder Singh, reached the spot and took Suresh to a hospital in Sohana where he was declared brought dead. 

Aman’s body, which was recovered later, was sent to the Civil Hospital at Phase VI here. The postmortem will be conducted tomorrow. 

GMADA’s negligence

According to sources, the pit was dug by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority to lay sewer pipes. “It’s sheer negligence on the part of GMADA as the pit was left open and it claimed two lives,” alleged the family. 

Officialspeak

GMADA Chief Administrator Varun Roojam said GMADA was in the process of acquiring the land. “The spot was a pond earlier. I will hold an inquiry into the incident and the guilty, if any, will not be spared,” said Roojam.

Police case

“We are registering a case under Section 304-A of the IPC in this regard against the GMADA contractor and officials responsible for the negligence,” said Inspector HS Ball, SHO of the Sohana police station.