Missing Student's Body Retrieved Three Days After Hussainsagar Boat Fire

Hyderabad:Rescue teams on Tuesday retrieved the body of 21-year-old BTech student S. Ajay, three days after a firecracker-laden boat caught fire at the Hussainsagar.

Ajay, a resident of Nagaram, had gone missing at 9.30 pm after the boat exploded a celebration on January 26. He was never supposed to be on the boat.

Police said that Ajay along with his collegemates Sai Chander alias Sai Sandeep and Radhavendra were on the boat at the time of the mishap.

Raghavendra had purchased crackers from Manikanta for Diwali last year and owed him some money. Manikanta had also supplied fireworks to the January 26 event organiser Vasudeva Reddy.

When Manikanta demanded payment for the Diwali crackers, Raghavendra, Ajay and Sai went on a bike to repay him. Once there, Manikanta asked them to assist firecracker operator M. Ganapathi and others.

The three students duly boarded the boat. When it caught fire, the trio jumped into the water. Personnel on nearby boats rescued Raghavendra and Sai but Ajay went missing. Raghavendra and Sai were treated as out patients at the Gandhi Hospital.

Police then launched a search for Ajay, whose body was located on Tuesday.

Prior to this, Ajay’s family members protested against the horticulture department which began arrangements for a ‘nursery mela’ at People’s Plaza.

The agatitors blocked the officials and did not allow them to set up tents till Ajay’s body was located and handed over to them. After retrieving the victim's body, police shifted it to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary for postmortem and later handed it over to the family.