Bhubaneswar: The ODRAF personnel on Thursday recovered the body of a 22-year-old youth, who was feared drowned in Birupa river after the car in which he was travelling with his friend lost control and plunged into the water body in Odisha’s Cuttack last night.
The deceased, identified as Udit Narayan Sahu (22) of Lingipur under Dhauli police limits in Bhubaneswar. His friend was earlier rescued by locals.
According to police, the duo along with three other friends went to a restaurant at Chauliaganj for dinner and then headed to a place near Fakirpur to enjoy some drinks. The incident took place when Udit and his 21-year-old friend Ansuman Panda, who were reportedly heavily intoxicated, were returning from a nearby market after buying snacks.
The person at the wheels is suspected to have accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake after losing control over the vehicle, following which the car veered off the road and plunged into the river in Jagatpur’s Pandasahi area.
Locals managed to pull Ansuman to safety, but Udit remained trapped inside the vehicle, which sank to a depth of about 50 feet. Police and fire services rushed to the spot. Fire personnel, scuba divers, and an ODRAF team conducted an extensive search through the night, but could not locate Udit. The submerged car was later retrieved from the river after a six-hour operation, but the youth was not found inside.
Former MLA Dr Prabhat Ranjan Biswal, Zone-2 ACP Arun Kumar Swain, District Fire Officer Sanjeeb Behera and Jagatpur IIC Aniruddha Nayak were present at the spot to oversee the rescue efforts.
