Two youths drowned in separate incidents in Burdwan and Durgapur on New Year’s Day, Thursday.
In the first incident, a youth drowned while attempting to rescue his friend during a picnic by an irrigation canal at Kanchannagar, on the outskirts of Burdwan town. A group of friends had gathered by the canal to celebrate the New Year and decided to swim. During the attempt, Bijoy Das, who did not know how to swim, began to struggle in the water. His friend, Dhanai Sil (33), jumped in to rescue him. Although Dhanai managed to save Bijoy, he himself drowned. His body was recovered later in the afternoon.
In a separate incident, Rahul Rajak (19) drowned while trying to enter a protected private amusement park at City Centre in Durgapur. According to the police, he attempted to intrude into the park by crossing a deep waterbody. The youth, a resident of the Sagarbhanga locality in Durgapur, was reportedly in an inebriated condition and did not know how to swim.
The police later recovered Rahul Rajak’s body.