Eight Young Men Drown During Picnic In Rajasthan’s Banas River; State CM Expresses Grief

Tonk: A leisure trip turned tragic on Tuesday when eight young men drowned in the Banas River in Rajasthan’s Tonk district. The group of friends, aged between 25 and 30, had ventured to the river for a picnic and swim, but what began as an outing ended in a devastating loss.

According to local authorities, a total of 11 youths had entered the river when some of them got caught in deeper waters. Efforts to rescue them were immediately made, but eight of the men were pulled out unconscious and were declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

The deceased were reportedly from different parts of Tonk and Jaipur districts. Local residents, along with rescue teams, carried out an extensive search and recovery operation that lasted for several hours. The somber mood deepened as a large crowd gathered at the district hospital, where the bodies were taken for postmortem.

Tonk Superintendent of Police Vikas Sangwan confirmed the tragic deaths and said the remaining three members of the group were rescued and are in stable condition. “The group had come from Jaipur for a picnic, but unfortunately, they got into a deeper section of the river. It is still unclear how the situation escalated so quickly,” he stated. Authorities are continuing their investigation to determine the exact cause of the incident.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma expressed his grief over the incident. Taking to social media, he posted, “The news of the deaths due to drowning in the Banas river located in Tonk district is extremely sad and painful. As soon as the information about the incident was received, the district administration officials were instructed to conduct rescue and relief operations immediately.”