5 youths drown as boat capsizes

Bhopal, March 21: Five youths drowned when their boat capsized while they were partying on it in Lower Lake here, police said on Monday, March 21.

Five other youths on the boat, meanwhile, swam to safety, they said. "Five youths were killed when their boat capsized due to imbalance when one of its occupants started dancing on it last night, according to initial investigations," Superintendent of Police (Bhopal North) Arvind Saxena said.

A youth, identified as Monu Batham, apparently untied the boat of fishing contractor Veru Batham anchored at Kamlapatghat of the lake, after arranging a party with the help of one Manish Ahirwar.

Monu rowed the boat with his nine friends to the deep water where they had a party and apparently consumed liquor. One of them started dancing on the boat following which it overturned, drowning its five occupants, Saxena said.

The five deceased have been identified as - Vishal Meena (21), Amit Malviya (20), Raj Gaikwad (20) Ajay Ahirwar (21) and Shubham Meena (20), he said. The five other youths on boat, including Monu and Manish, swam to safety.

The postmortem of the five bodies was underway. Police have registered a case and further investigation is on, the SP added.

PTI