Jammu: Search operations have been intensified to trace the bodies of a man and a woman believed to have drowned in the Chenab river in separate incidents in Doda and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.
A 21-year-old woman jumped into the river in Doda on Saturday afternoon, while the 20-year-old man slipped into the fast-flowing Chenab in Ramban on September 1, they added.
Payal Devi, who according to her family was suffering from anxiety and depression, jumped into the river from the Shiva Dal bridge, near Prem Nagar. A video, purportedly captured by passersby who tried to discourage her, shows the woman saying “bye-bye” before jumping into the river. The video has since gone viral on social media.
The officials said the circumstances that led her to take the extreme step could not immediately be ascertained.
The search to trace her body was intensified as additional teams of police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), along with local volunteers, joined the operation, they said.
The rescue personnel carried out an extensive search along the riverbank and downstream stretches of the Chenab, but no breakthrough has so far been achieved.
According to the woman’s father, Krishan Lal, she had gone to a mela and later, told him over the phone that she was going to consult a doctor as she was feeling unwell.
After the doctor was reportedly unavailable, she was on her way back when she apparently got onto a motorcycle.
Her father said he later received a call from a person accompanying his daughter, who told him that she had run towards the river.
“Nobody should come near me,” Lal recalled his daughter saying, adding that he subsequently spoke to her over the phone and repeatedly asked about what had happened and whether someone had said or done anything to her.
According to Lal, his daughter said, “No, papa. This is my own life. My heart tells me that I should go this way.”
She then said, “Bye-bye, papa,” before the call ended.
The officials said a multi-agency search-and-rescue operation is also going on to trace Ravi Kumar, who slipped into the river at Ramban’s Maitra on September 1.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan and Senior Superintendent of Police Arun Gupta visited the incident site and reviewed the search operation and the action plan being implemented by the agencies involved.
In view of the hazardous conditions, experts have advised against using boats due to the strong water flow and associated risks.
The search operation is being carried out with specialised rescue equipment and trained personnel while following all necessary safety protocols, the officials said.
After the deputy commissioner’s intervention, authorities of the Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project have restricted the water flow in the river to facilitate the rescue operation, they said.
