2 drown in river during Ganpati idol immersion at Shahapur near Mumbai, search on for one youth

Thane: Tragedy struck the last day of Ganpati immersions in Shahapur taluka of Thane district when three devotees were swept away in Bharangi river on Saturday evening. Two bodies have been recovered, and a search operation is still underway for one missing youth. The incident occurred at 7.30pm in Mundewadi village, where Shiv Tej Mitra Mandal members had gathered for idol immersion. Shahapur police said Pratik Munde (21) ventured 30-50m away from the designated immersion point. Strong currents, intensified by heavy rainfall, pulled him under the water. In an attempt to rescue him, five others jumped in. But Dattu Kote (30) and Kuldeep Jakhare (35) got caught in the currents. The other three men managed to swim back to safety. Munde's body was recovered around 10.30pm. Due to poor visibility and strong currents, search operations for the other two had to be suspended on Saturday night. It resumed on Sunday with assistance from NDRF and the Disaster Management Cell. Kote's body was recovered at 12.10pm, but Jakhare was untraceable till Sunday night.Tension prevailed in Bhiwandi on Saturday night after a 10-year-old boy was allegedly assaulted with a wooden stick by an unidentified person during the immersion of a household idol. Following the incident, angry devotees refused to proceed with the immersion until the accused was caught. It was only after police's assurance to file an FIR and arrest the accused that they immersed the idol.