Four drown, three missing during Durga idol immersion in UP's Gonda, Fatehpur

Four people died and three youths went missing in separate drowning incidents during Durga idol immersion ceremonies in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda and Fatehpur districts on Tuesday, police said.

While one person died and three others went missing in two incidents in Gonda, three teenagers drowned in a pond in Fatehpur. Several others were rescued by local residents.

Police said some of the incidents occurred at locations that had not been designated for idol immersion, prompting authorities to caution devotees against entering deep water or using unauthorised sites.

𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮

In the first incident in Gonda, five youths from Bhairampur village began drowning in the Tedhi river near Laxmanpur in the Tarabganj area while immersing a Durga idol.

Superintendent of Police Abhishek identified them as Pradeep (20), Raghuvar (19), Sumit Prajapati (20), Abhishek Tiwari (18) and Ram Vilas Prajapati (18).

Pradeep managed to come out of the river, while local residents rescued Raghuvar and Sumit. However, Abhishek and Ram Vilas went missing.

Sumit subsequently died during treatment, while Pradeep and Raghuvar were admitted to a private hospital.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Savita Shukla said the incident occurred at a location that was not a designated immersion ghat.

She added that the organisers had neither obtained permission nor informed the administration about the immersion.

𝗠𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁

In another incident in Gonda, a man identified as Tularam Shukla went missing while attempting to rescue four people from the Kuano river at Bhainsahwa Ghat in the Dhanepur area.

Additional Superintendent of Police Abhishek Dvachya said Daddan (35), Prince (22), Deepak (23) and Uttam (22) had entered deep water during the immersion procession and began drowning.

Tularam entered the river to rescue them but went missing.

Local residents managed to save all four individuals, police said.

The two incidents in Gonda left one person dead and three missing.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗵𝗽𝘂𝗿

In Fatehpur, three teenagers drowned and two others were rescued after entering a village pond to bathe following Durga idol immersion in Chak Katoghan village.

The deceased were identified as Aditya Sahu (19), Raja Sahu (18) and Abhimanyu Sahu (16), all residents of the village.

Two others, Harsh and Yashwant, were rescued by local residents.

Police said the rescued youths received initial treatment at a community health centre before being referred to the district hospital.

Fatehpur Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Manglik said two Durga idols installed in Khushiyaripur hamlet were scheduled to be immersed at Naubasta Ghat under the Sultanpur police station area.

However, some devotees took one of the idols to a village pond instead of the designated immersion site.

The teenagers subsequently entered the pond to bathe, leading to the tragedy.

𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆

Following the incidents, police urged devotees to conduct idol immersion ceremonies only at designated locations where safety arrangements could be ensured.

Authorities also cautioned people against entering ponds, rivers and other water bodies for bathing during immersion processions.

The incidents have raised concerns over safety during large religious gatherings, particularly when devotees use unauthorised locations or enter deep water without adequate precautions.