Youth swept away in strong currents at Rajouri waterfall, body retrieved after 24 hours
Two others were rescued from the rapids
A young man drowned after he was swept away by strong currents while taking a bath in a natural waterfall in Rajouri district, while two others were rescued from the rapids, officials said on Sunday.
Officials said the body of the deceased was retrieved on Sunday afternoon — on the second day of the search and rescue operation along the stream near Khorinar village in Darhal area.
The deceased was identified as Mohammad Maroof, a resident of Thanamang Darhal. He was working in Mumbai and had recently come home on leave, they said.
According to officials, Maroof had gone to take a bath in the natural waterfall on Saturday along with two friends — Mohammad Ismail and Mohammad Yasir — both residents of Thanamang.
During the bath, the trio got trapped in strong water currents. “Maroof drowned in the incident. Ismail and Yasir initially attempted to rescue him but later fell unconscious due to hypothermia”, they said.
Some villagers present nearby acted swiftly and managed to pull the duo out of the water before shifting them to a hospital.
Meanwhile, Maroof remained missing, prompting a large-scale search and rescue operation that continued for the second consecutive day on Sunday.
Joint teams of police, State Disaster Response Force and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, and locals carried out the operation and eventually recovered the body from beneath a rock surrounded by strong water currents, officials said.
The body was retrieved and shifted to a local civil hospital for medico-legal formalities, they added. — PTI
