The bodies of Somraj Gupta (37) and his 7-year-old daughter, Samrina who drowned in Bay of Bengal on Saturday were recovered from Henry Island early Sunday morning.
Ritika Pramanik (35), wife of Sumanta Pramanik, a friend of Somraj also went to the sea along with the two also drowned but her body was recovered by the coast guard and Frasergung coastal police at around 11 pm on Saturday. Somraj's wife, Tandrima Gupta, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Kolkata Police did not go to the sea and was waiting on the seashore along with Ritika's husband and their son.
Somraj and his friend, Sumanta, decided to go on a trip to Bakkhali along with their family members on the weekend. Somraj was a resident of Haltu area of Kasba while his friend was from Baguiati in North 24 Parganas. As planned the two families reached Bakkhali on Saturday afternoon. After reaching there, Somraj, a former Indian Navy officer and his daughter went to take a bath in the sea. Tandrima, however, warned her husband and daughter about the strong currents and advised them not to swim beyond a certain point. But they did not pay heed to her warnings.
While taking a bath both of them were suddenly swept away by strong current. Ritika who was taking a bath along with them also drowned. The incident took place around 3 pm on Saturday.
Frazergunj coastal police started a search operation with the assistance from the Indian Coast Guard. A joint operation was carried out following the accident and recovered Ritika's body from Frazergunj at around 11 pm on Saturday, a few kilometres away from the place where she drowned. The rescue team failed to trace the other two bodies on Saturday. The bodies were found near Henry Island at around 6 am on Sunday.
A pall of gloom descended on the family members. Family members of Somraj still cannot accept the incident and said that the couple did not always get enough time to take their child on a trip. After getting the consecutive holidays they planned a short trip and had plans to return home on Monday. The bodies have been sent for the postmortem examination. Police have started a probe in this regard.