The bodies of four boys who had gone missing after venturing into the Arabian Sea off Mumbai’s Juhu Koliwada area were recovered on Tuesday.The four boys were part of a group of five friends, aged between 12 and 16 years, who ventured into the sea off Juhu Koliwada on Monday at 5.28 pm. While locals rescued one of the boys immediately, the other four went missing.
Ignoring warnings of rough sea because of Cyclone Biparjoy and high tide, a total of eight boys ventured to the deep end of the jetty and sat on the ledge there. According to the Mumbai Police, one boy was rescued by the local fisherman, while three others ran away. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporaton (BMC) suspended search and rescue operation due to bad weather and darkness at 11pm.The four drowned boys have been identified as Dharamsh Bhujiya, 15, Manish Bhogania, 15, Shubham Bhogania, 16, Jai Tajpariya, 16.The rescued boy is Dipesh Karan, 16, and the three who managed to run away from the spot are Dharam Nitesh, 16, Kaushal Tajpariya, 15 and Ankit Bhujia, 16. They are all residents of Dutt Mandir road, Vakola.
Mumbai Fire Brigade launched a search and rescue operation around 5:30pm and said lifeguards with jet skis and life jackets were deployed. Officials of the Mumbai Fire Brigade said that the high tide made the operation difficult.A Navy chopper too was pressed into operation at 8.20 pm.Disaster management said, search operation was carried out with night search light, rope manilla etc but the missing boys were not found. However, due to darkness and bad weather, the BMC suspended the search operation at 11 pm.At Juhu Koliwada, fishermen said drowning is a frequent occurrence in this part of the beach. They said that easy access to the jetty, which goes a few hundred meters into the sea, and lack of security often leads youngsters to venture to the deep end of the jetty, causing accidents.