A tragic incident unfolded on Thursday at the banks of the Sutlej river near Baliewal village in Ludhiana district, where two friends who went for a bath ended up being pulled under by the river’s strong currents.
While one of the men, 29-year-old Shubhpreet Singh, was recovered dead, the other youth, identified as Gurmeet Singh alias Raju, is feared drowned, with search operations continuing late into the evening.
According to eyewitnesses, the two men, accompanied by two friends, headed to the river in the afternoon around 2pm to seek relief from the intense summer heat. Upon reaching the riverbank, Shubhpreet and Gurmeet removed their clothes and jumped into the water at a spot that appeared deceptively shallow. However, they soon found themselves struggling in the deep water.
Eyewitness accounts suggest that Gurmeet began to drown first, and when Shubhpreet attempted to rescue him, he too was overpowered by the river’s current. Alarmed by the incident, locals immediately alerted divers and rescue workers.
A local, Malkeet Singh managed to recover Shubhpreet’s body after a swift response. However, despite hours of relentless effort, there was no sign of Gurmeet Singh as of late evening. The search is expected to resume at first light on Friday.