Missing ODRAF jawan’s body fished out 6km from mishap site; Odisha boat tragedy toll reaches 2

BHUBANESWAR: The body of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel Sitaram Murmu, who had gone missing after Friday’s boat tragedy, was found dead on Saturday raising the toll due to the mishap to two.
His body was discovered by locals at Kakhadi village near Dhabaleswar, six km from mishap site. Locals informed the NDRF search team, which retrieved it from the water.
On Friday, while negotiating a strong current in Mundali barrage in Mahanadi in a power inflatable boat, Murmu, 38 one of the five ODRAF jawan, had gone missing. He had joined ODRAF as diver in 2013. He is survived by wife and two children- minor a son and a daughter.
“ODRAF personnel Sitaram Murmu, an expert diver &swimmer missing in Y’day’s unfortunate boat tragedy is reported dead. Body found near Dhabaleswar. Very saddened. RIP. I request @DGPOdisha 2review SOP & order no outsider, civilian or media should be part of any rescue mission,” special relief commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena twitted.
The chief reporter of OTV Arindam Das had drowned on Friday. His cameraman Pravat Sinha and two other ODRAF personnel are under treatment at SCB medical college and hospital, Cuttack. Of the seven persons on board (including two journalists) the ill-fated boat, five survived.
Till filing of the report, there was no whereabouts of the tusker, which until Friday evening stayed put in the water. In late evening when crowd dispersed, there is no sight of the animal. “Either it has swam across and went back into the forest and is still missing somewhere in the water. The search operation is on. We don’t any information about whether the elephant has died or not,” said divisional forest officer (Chandaka wildlife sanctuary) Md Jamil. Forest personnel of four divisions and eight NDRF teams are on the search job since Friday afternoon, he added.
While the wildlife wing of the forest department confirmed its Athgarh division had sought ODRAF help to rescue the jumbo, the ODRAF has come under severe attack for the misadventure leading to death of journalist and its own jawan. “A tusker weighing more than two tonne can’t be tamed by a few persons in water with having strong current. The animal could have been left for itself to negotiate the water and come out without any disturbance. The ODRAF team perhaps miscalculated their move and took a plunge to go near the jumbo,” said Anup Nayak, former member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority.
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