Magic trick gone wrong: Stuntman lowered in Hooghly river with chains missing

Kolkata, June 17: An Indian magician who was lowered in Hooghly river on Sunday tied up with steel chains and rope while performing a magic show is missing as trick fails.

Chanchal Lahiri, also known as Wizard Madrake, was placed into the river by a crane with family members, media and police watching on from the banks on Sunday.

However, despite extensive search operations were conducted, he was not traced.

According to the plan, on Sunday, he boarded a vessel from Fairlie Place Ghat and went towards Howrah Bridge. Around 12:35 pm, near pillar number 28, Lahiri was locked inside a box and it was pulled up by a crane and thrown into the Ganga. However, Lahiri did not come out of the water as seconds passed and even when it was close to a minute.

Disaster Management Group divers jumped into the water to trace Lahiri but the efforts went into vain. Despite several hours, Lahiri was not found.

Lahiri is a well-known stuntman and daredevil who has performed a number of similar escape acts to varying degrees of success.

He goes by his stage name "Jadugar Mandrake" which translates as Wizard Mandrake.

Lahiri had previously caused controversy after he tried a similar stunt at the same river in 2013.

That time, however, he was assaulted by onlookers after they saw him emerge through a clearly visible escape hatch.