Siblings from Baghajatin fall victim to killer wave in Mandarmani

Kolkata: A weekend trip to Mandarmani beach ended in tragedy for a 32-year-old youth and his younger sister, who drowned after being swept away by strong waves on Sunday morning.

They were rescued by the disaster management team in a very critical condition. The duo was declared brought dead after being taken to a nearby hospital. Police later sent their bodies for post-mortem.

Police said that the victims have been identified as Arka Chakraborty (32) and his younger sister Alolika Chakraborty (30), who went to Mandarmani on Sunday morning, along with friends.

Residents of the Baghajatin area in the city, the Chakraborty siblings started for Mandarmani on early Sunday morning. According to the police, they were originally from Malda's English Bazar but were staying in the city.

They went to bathe in the sea, but accidentally drowned after being swept away by a wave, police said.

Their friend Uddalak Bhattacharya, who went to their rescue, was also swept away but survived after the divers rescued him, while the other two were declared brought dead at a hospital.

Some others who went to bathe, alerted the local divers to save them but despite sincere efforts, the siblings could not be saved. Uddalak has been undergoing treatment at Kanthi Sub-Divisional Hospital.

The investigators have also initiated a case. "We will investigate whether the victims were in an inebriated state or not. We will collect information from the eyewitnesses who were at the spot during the incident," said a senior police officer in the district.

It may be mentioned that the state government has already installed Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the beaches of Mandarmani, Digha and Tajpur to keep a close watch on the happenings there. The step has been taken to minimise such incidents of drowning or other accidents on beaches.