Six individuals have been arrested in connection with the tragic boat accident at Harni Lake, which resulted in the deaths of 12 students and two teachers from New Sunrise School. The police have named 18 persons in the FIR, charging them with culpable homicide among other offenses.
The arrested individuals include three partners of Kotiya Projects, Bhimsingh Kadiaram Yadav, Rashmilant Chiman Prajapati, and Vedprakash Rampath Yadav; the operators of the ill-fated boat, Nayan Pravin Gohil and Ankit Mahesh Vasava; and Marketing Manager Shantilal Ishwar Solanki. The arrests were made as the city conducted the last rites for 11 of the victims on Friday.
Notably, 15 of the 18 persons named in the FIR are partners of the contractor Kotiya Projects, which won the bid to run the boating service on Harni Lake. Vadodara City CP Anupamsinh Gehlot confirmed the arrests and assured a thorough investigation into all involved, including the Vadodara Municipal Corporation for potential negligence.
In a press conference, Gehlot announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the tragedy. The SIT, led by Additional CP Manoj Ninama and overseen by DC Zone-4 Panna Momaya and Crime Branch DCP Yuvrajsinh Jadeja, will scrutinize the contractors and sub-contractors, probing all aspects of the case.
The boat incident occurred at about 4:45 pm on January 18, with only 20 of the 34 occupants rescued by emergency services. Overcrowding was cited as a primary cause. The incident has raised questions about safety measures, as only 10 of the 34 aboard the boat wore life jackets, according to MoS Home Harsh Sanghavi.
Families of 11 deceased conducted the last rites, while three families awaited loved ones from abroad. Postmortems were performed at SSG Hospital, with the bodies being handed over to the families.
Russy Wadia, a trustee of New Sunrise School, shared that their teachers had advised against overcrowding, yet the boat driver insisted. Furthermore, the school had not obtained permission from the DEO office for the picnic, to which Wadia stated that all required documents were submitted.
In a separate but related development, a missing child scare at Motnath Lake in Harani, Vadodara, ended well. Krishna Amin, initially thought missing, was found safe at home. The alarm raised by his grandmother, seemingly affected by the Harni Lake tragedy, was a false alarm, as Krishna was not a student of New Sunrise School.
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