Professional Divers Brave 70-Foot Depths to Retrieve Bodies in Siddipet Tragedy

Hyderabad: A group of five divers battled the clock and stiff wind, and even risked their lives to retrieve the bodies of the five youths from the city who had drowned at the Kondapochammasagar in Gajwel on Saturday.

Locals advised the Gajwel police against trying to retrieve the bodies from the deep water, given the risks involved which included failing light, the wind and uncertain conditions

But the group, hired by the police at Rs.8,000 a person, worked for six-and-a-half hours and brought the bodies of the victims to the shore. The bodies were taken for a post-mortem examination at the Gajwel government hospital and handed over to their relatives on Sunday morning.

Locals told the police to wait for a day so that the bodies would surface in the natural course. The bravery of the divers ensured that the families of the victims did not have to endure a painful wait.

Police personnel from Gajwel and Siddipet split into two teams. The first team brought five professional divers, called ‘Gaja Ethagallu’, and 20 fishermen from Gajwel to the reservoir. A reward of Rs.8,000 was announced for each retrieved body.

The other team kept watch on the other side of the reservoir, hoping the bodies would wash shore with the current. Later three more swimmers joined the search party.

The operation seemed very difficult because of strong winds. The locals suspected the victims' bodies may have been carried to the deepest parts of the reservoir.

"The survivors confirmed that the five victim didn’t know how to swim, we were sure they have drowned.

Their family members were in agony and we needed them to confirm the identities. After eight expert divers were brought to the reservoir I spoke to them in person, accompanied by my staff," ACP, Gajwel, K. Purushotham Reddy told Deccan Chronicle.

The professional divers spread out, swimming as a deep as 40 feet. Within one hour, they fished out two bodies. All bodies were retrieved in six-and-a-half hours.

"Credit goes to the professional divers. In a single breath, they repeatedly went 40 to 70 feet deep," Purushotham Reddy said.

"On the instructions of superior officials, no politician or media person was allowed to come close to the scene. This saved time," he added.

The team of divers included Todengala Yadagiri, 51, and his sons Rajender and Krishna, and their friends Eyya Raju and Md Wajeed.

Rajender, 24, said, "We have been swimming since childhood. We have saved over 240 lives. My father Yadagiri, 51, who taught me to swim, participated in this operation."

Rajender was only seven when he started swimming. His father is known locally as Gaja Yadagiri.

“We are professional swimmers and experts in rescuing people from drowning. We live in the same street at NTR Nagar in Siddipet,” he said, adding with pride, “The lane is called the `Gaja Ethagallu galli’.”