More than 48 hours after the drowning of braveheart Ramesh Walunju, the Mumbai police on Monday found his body in Mahim creek. According to the police, on Monday morning the Dharavi police found the body of Walunju, after the locals had informed the police that a body was seen floating at the edge of the creek in the Mithi River near the Rajiv Gandhi slums at about 8.30 am. Later, in the afternoon, officials sent the body to the Sion Hospital, where the family verified it, said an official from Mahim police station. The search operations for Tarannum Ansari are still on, said the police, adding that Walunju’s body will be handed over to his family for the last rites. Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray visited the house of deceased and promised to offer help to the family.
While Tarannum is still missing, her distant relative, speaking with The Asian Age, said that the family has hired private boats and searched Mahim creek, Dharavi and the Bandra coastline, and, on Tuesday, they are going to search Versova for her. On Monday evening, three Coast Guard divers also conducted a search for Tarannum.
Earlier, on Saturday morning, Walunju had jumped into the sea at Bandstand to save the life of three girls. Tarannum Ansari (18), her friends Anjum Khan (19) and Kasuri Khan (19) had slipped off the rocks at Bandstand. Kasuri and Anjum are in trauma and have been unable to respond to any query about the location to the police.
After the incident, the police has deployed a police van in area with seven to eight officials, who are telling people not to get close to the sea. Confirming the development, local DCP Satyanarayan Chaudhari told this newspaper, “We are trying our best and have deployed our vans. We are keeping people away from the sea.” A BMC official, commenting on the dangerous nature of the area, said, “We had place a warning sign in the area already but still people still enter the area.”
A local resident, Tasha Samtani, speaking about the current situation at Bandstand, said, “I have noticed several policemen have been deployed here after the incident, but who will ensure that the place is secure after few weeks. The incident is fresh and everyone is concerned about the area, but there should be proper and permanent arrangements.
Commenting on the needs of permanent arrangements, an official from Bandra police station said, “We can deploy our officials and we can tell people not to go near the sea, but there is no law to stop people, and every one is not willing to listen us, thus it is difficult.”
