Two 35-year-old men drowned in a lake at Lonavala around 7.30 pm on Saturday. The duo were picnicking at the hill station with four others at the time of the incident. A 29-year-old woman friend of the deceased, who had also entered the water body, was rescued by locals and admitted to a local hospital.According to the police, Vijay Yadav and Priyank Vora, the deceased, resided at Ghatkopar and Powai, respectively, and worked at a Mumbai based finance company. Santosh Dokhe, the investigating officer in the case who is posted at Lonavala police station, told mid-day, “Four men and two women, all colleagues at the finance firm, visited Varsoli village on Saturday evening. They arrived at a bungalow around 12.30 pm.”
Another police officer said, “During their stay, Yadav, Vora and Genia Viadatt decided to venture into the water near a rock that is close to Varsoli’s mental health centre. They found it to be a pleasant spot. Consequently, all three entered the water to bathe. However, after wandering into the water body, they slipped and struggled to stay afloat. They desperately called out for help. Local residents immediately rushed to their aid.”Dokhe said, “The trio’s friends, who could not see them anywhere, spotted the crowd that had gathered near the rock, ran to the spot.” Eventually, Yadav’s and Vora’s bodies were retrieved from the water by local residents, who also managed to rescue Genia.Dokhe said, “Local people and the friends of the youths immediately took the trio to the hospital. However, doctors declared the men dead on arrival.”The police claimed that the hospital informed them about the drowning incident around 11 pm—more than three hours after the occurrence.A police officer said, “We reached the hospital at 12.30 am on Sunday and kept both bodies in the morgue. They were sent for a post-mortem at the hospital. Afterwards, the remains were handed over to their respective families for the last rites.