3 drown in two separate water bodies in Rajasthan's Bundi; teen remains missing

KOTA: A teenager was among three people who drowned in a dam and a pond in two separate police station areas of Bundi district on Friday. The teenager is still missing, and a search operation is underway.

The other two bodies were handed over to their families after post-mortem examinations on Saturday morning.In the first incident, three youths — Mohit Yaduvanshi (19), Lakshya Malav (22), and his brother — all residents of Kunjed village in Atru police station area of Baran district, were swept away by overflowing water at Bardha Dam under Talera police station in Bundi district. The three were crossing a culvert on a motorbike on Friday afternoon.Lakshya and his brother, who knew how to swim, managed to reach a safe rock, but Mohit went missing in the strong current, said Circle Inspector Ajit Bagdoliya of Talera police station.After receiving information about the incident, police and civil defence teams rushed to the spot and began a search operation. However, it had to be halted due to darkness. The search resumed on Saturday morning, but the teenager had not been found at the time of reporting.

Mohit, who worked as a food delivery boy in Kota, and the other two, both students, had gone to Bardha Dam for a picnic after hearing it had overflowed for the first time this season. The mishap occurred around 4 p.m. while they were returning and attempted to cross the overflowing culvert.In a separate incident, two men — Ramchandra Paswan (43), an employee of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Bundi, and Shankar Mali (30), a private gardener — drowned in Dhand Talab (pond) in Kanjri Selor under Bundi Sadar police station on Friday evening.According to Circle Inspector Ramesh Arya of Bundi Sadar police station, Ramchandra slipped into the overflowing pond and drowned. Shankar jumped in to rescue him but also drowned.Police and civil defence squads recovered both bodies from the deep water and placed them in the mortuary of Bundi district hospital. The bodies were handed over to the families after post-mortem examinations on Saturday morning. A case has been registered for investigation, Arya added.Ramchandra was originally from Bihar and had lived in Bundi with his family for over two decades, while Shankar was a resident of Thikarda village under Dablana police station area of the district.