Floatel GM yet to be traced after drowning in Hooghly

Kolkata: A senior executive of a city hotel, who had gone missing after falling into Hooghly river from a launch during a picnic on Saturday, is yet to be traced by police.

Police said that the victim Arindam Bose, general manager of Floatel, somehow fell down from the launch deck at Podra Ghat in Nazirgunj, where a picnic was being organised by the executives of the managers of Floatel, a senior official of city police said.

According to police, around 22 executives and some managers had taken part in the picnic organised by the victim. They were playing 'Antakshari' on the deck of the launch, when the victim had received a phone call. He stepped up to the back of the boatman's cabin. The boatman suddenly shouted, saying that Bose had fallen into the river.

The victim's colleagues claimed that they had thrown a rope into the river, but their exercise turned futile. They saw his head and hands before he drowned in the river within a few moments. Search operations were conducted by the force's disaster management group, but he remained untraced till Sunday evening.

The victim's wife Aditi Bose lodged a complaint with the police, saying that her husband might have been murdered. She told police that he did not know how to swim and hence, he used to avoid going to the river.

Police have already interrogated the staff members who were at the spot at the time of the incident. They told the police that they felt a sudden jerk and heard the boatman shouting. By the time he said that the official had slipped into the river, the boat had moved 50 meters away from the place of the incident.

The investigators have also interrogated the boatman Naru Gopal Ghosh in this connection. Police are investigating all possible angles into the incident. They are not yet ruling out the possibility of foul play behind the incident.

Police are also probing to know if the launch had adequate safety measures and adhered to the safety guidelines issued by the state Transport department.

Floatel authorities on Sunday have issued a Press statement, saying that it was just an accident and it is unfortunate.