3, including 2 brothers, drown at Juhu beach

MUMBAI: What started out as a fun afternoon for four friends turned into a tragedy as three, including two brothers, drowned in the Arabian Sea at Juhu beach on Tuesday.

According to preliminary information shared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the three people have been identified as Aman Singh (21), Kaustubh Ganesh Gupta (18) and Pratham Ganesh Gupta (16). The fourth friend, Abhishek Jogendra Sharma (17), did not venture too far into the sea and alerted the lifeguards after he could not spot his companions.

After being alerted, the disaster management cell of BMC initiated rescue operations by informing Navy and coast guard divers.

According to Abhishek, the incident occured behind the Juhu Hotel at around 2:30pm. He told the Santacruz police that the four were friends and stayed close to each other at Vashi Naka in Chembur. They were students who had come to the beach as they did not have any lectures on Tuesday afternoon. They then decided to go into the sea for a swim since the tide was low.

While Sharma stayed close to the shore, the victims went in too deep. “When I could not spot the three, I swam and reached the shore. I then raised an alarm and shouted for help alerting the lifeguard at the beach,” Sharma told the Santacruz police.

Balasaheb Tambe, senior police inspector of Santacruz police station, said that Sharma told them that the three did not know how to swim, but assumed it was not dangerous to go in the water as the tide was low.

“We have recorded the statement of Sharma and have informed the parents,” said Tambe.

While speaking to HT, the maternal aunt of the two brothers who drowned said, “The elder one had appeared for the HSC exams and had secured 80 per cent, while the younger one had appeared for the SSC exams and was awaiting results. The boys had said that they were going to play and left home at around 1 pm. We do not know how and when they reached Juhu beach. The family is devastated,” said the woman. Commander Mehul Karnik, chief public relation officer of the Indian Navy said search will start on Wednesday morning.