Youth drowns in river, rescue operations on

A youth drowned in River Hooghly on Wednesday but the police divers could not find his body till Wednesday night but the efforts continued throughout the night to rescue the body.

Rahul Bhattacharya, an 18-year-old youth had gone for a bath in the river after a football match in his locality. Police learnt that he slipped while taking a bath and drowned in the river. His friend tried to rescue him but in vain.

Bhattacharya, a Class XII student was a resident of Salkia. His family informed that the youth was playing football in a nearby field with his friend.

"All the 5-6 youth had gone for a bath in a ghat adjacent to a local temple. Bhattacharya drowned during the high tide," said a family member.

"Another youth, a friend of Bhattacharya had also drowned in the river but the divers managed to rescue him. We are expecting that the divers will find the drowned youth as well," he added.

The disaster management force later came to help the police divers, but they were also unable to find the youth.

"I think the youth did not know swimming but his friend had insisted him to go for a bath," said a local resident.