Beas river tragedy: Third body recovered, 1 teenager still missing

The body of another teenager was recovered from the Beas river on Thursday evening, raising the death toll to three in the drowning incident that occurred on April 13.

Local divers from Peerewal village discovered the body of Vishaldeep Singh, who had been missing for five days. Vishaldeep was the younger brother of Arshdeep Singh, whose body had been recovered earlier along with that of Jaspal Singh. The fourth youth, Gurpreet Singh, remains untraced.

According to police, the four teenagers —residents of Peerewal village — had gone to the Beas river to bathe when they were swept away by strong currents. Despite immediate search efforts, only two bodies were recovered on that day.

A combined team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and local divers carried out extensive search operations for three consecutive days. An NDRF team member stated that they covered nearly 15 kilometers of the river during their search, but eventually had to suspend operations after failing to locate the remaining bodies.

The loss has cast a pall of mourning over Peerewal village. Speaking to reporters, Sarpanch Harjinder Singh said that villagers had earlier decided not to cremate the recovered bodies until all four were found. However, due to advanced decomposition, families have now agreed to perform the last rites for the three recovered boys.

Villagers also expressed their anguish over the lack of response from the district administration. “Not a single senior officer has visited the bereaved families to offer condolences,” said one resident. Community members have also criticized the state government for failing to announce any ex gratia or financial assistance to the affected families.

Punjab