Chandigarh, March 22: The three victims, along with a friend, had taken permission from the hostel authorities to visit Rock Garden in Chandigarh, the police said. But the four, who drove on two motorcycles, reached Parwanoo in the afternoon.
According to the police, as they did not know how to swim, Ankur Singh, Pankaj Patial and Naveen entered the shallow waters of the river and started posing for pictures. Their friend Vikas Kumar was clicking their pictures, while sitting on the river banks.
“As Vikas had an injury on the forehead, he did not enter the river. Ankur, while posing for a picture, went towards deep water and lost ground. The area, where Ankur slipped, is about 15-20 feet deep.
In an attempt to save Ankur, Naveen and Pankaj also drowned,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramesh Pathania said. “Vikas, who witnessed this tragic incident, also jumped in the water to save his friends but could not hold on to them for long and barely managed to save his own life.”
When Vikas raised an alarm a few labourers working nearby rushed to the site.
“They tried to save the boys but failed. The police were informed around 2.30 pm. We reached in about 10-15 minutes and started rescue operations but it was too late by then,” Pathania added. “Our divers tried hard but they had already died. We fished out the bodies and rushed them to the ESI Hospital, where the doctors declared them dead on arrival.”
The four friends, in their early twenties, came to Chandigarh to study. Ankur and Naveen were pursuing bachelors degrees in computer and Pankaj was learning French; Vikas is a student of hotel management. Ankur and Naveen’s fathers are warrant officers posted in Belgaon and Mangalore, respectively. Pankaj’s father, a subedar in the Army, is posted with 19 Dogra in Delhi.
Acting on the intimation, a few Air Force personnel reached the hospital in the evening. Pankaj’s father also reached the hospital; parents of other victims are expected to reach on Monday. The postmortem will be conducted on Monday.
—–Agencies