Man drowns in Old Digha after wave crashes on shore

A middle-aged man from Haridevpur in South Kolkata drowned while taking bath in the sea at Old Digha on Sunday night.

The incident took place within a day after three members of a family drowned in Bakkhali.

Police said the incident at Old Digha took place at around 9 pm on Sunday when the beach was packed with tourists.

The victim, Supriya Chakraborty, was a resident of Haridevpur in South Kolkata. He went to Digha along with his wife and son.

He accidentally fell into the sea failing to control his balance when a huge wave lashed onto the shore. Despite realising that he was drowning, other tourists present at the spot found themselves in a helpless situation and couldn't save Supriya.

Within a few minutes, local divers initiated the rescue work. But they couldn't find him. The search continued for a few hours and finally they found Supriya in an unconscious state. They took him to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead.

With holidays for three consecutive days from Saturday, most of the tourist spots in the state including Digha and Mandarmani were packed with tourists. So the local administration had also increased the number of policemen and divers to avoid any such incidents of drowning.

Civic volunteers have also been engaged to keep a watch to avoid any untoward incident. Police said that the incident in which Supriya had drowned took place all of a sudden before anyone could have understood anything.

The police have sent the body for an autopsy and his family members in Haridevpur have been informed.

The police said that they have taken initiatives to make people aware using public addressing systems not to go too close to the sea at Old Digha mainly after the sunset.

It may be mentioned that the police now take stringent measures if anyone is found even carrying bottles containing alcohol while roaming on the sea beaches.