Hyderabad Ganesh Chaturthi tragedy: 6 students drown during immersion
Hyderabad: Six students below the age of 20 drowned while immersing a Ganesh idol in a pond at Pedda Kanjarla village in Sangareddy district on Wednesday evening. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The incident took place at around 7 pm on Wednesday when the students went to immerse a Ganesh idol in a pond in Pedda Kanjarla village.
According to police, all six students were residents of Siresha Memorial Charitable Trust, an organisation that provides shelter to orphaned children. The students were reportedly participating in the immersion when they entered the water.
DCP (Serilingampally Zone) Ch Srinivas said the exact circumstances were still being investigated. Police suspect that the students may have slipped into the water, but the precise cause of the deaths was yet to be established.
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Victims were all below 20
The deceased have been identified as Siddarth, a Class X student; Narasimha Raju, a second-year BTech student; Sumanth Reddy and Ganesh, both second-year polytechnic students; Uday Kiran, a third-year polytechnic student; and Sham Kumar, a first-year polytechnic student.
Police said all six were below 20 years of age. The students were from Warangal, Kukatpally and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
Police are contacting their relatives following the incident.
Pond was not a notified immersion point
Police said the pond where the students drowned was not a notified location for Ganesh idol immersion.
An officer said designated immersion points have security arrangements, including swimmers who can respond to emergencies. The absence of such arrangements at the pond is now among the circumstances being examined as part of the investigation.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner M Ramesh Reddy visited the spot and reviewed the situation.
Police said rescue efforts began after the incident, while the exact sequence of events leading to the drowning was being investigated.
A case has been registered under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which deals with inquiries and procedures relating to suspicious deaths.
The incident has cast a shadow over Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the region, with the deaths of six young students leaving their families and the local community mourning.