Mumbai: A small boat with seven passengers on board, heading from Madh to Versova jetty, capsized early on Wednesday. Three of the passengers were reported missing and four were rescued. The fire department carried out a four-hour search operation for the missing before calling it off. Malwani Police have booked three persons, including the owner of the boat, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and arrested two men.
"Five of the labourers were from Versova and wanted to head back home. As the lockdown is in place, they decided to travel discreetly, by boat. On Tuesday night, the owner of the boat, Naresh Koli, came with a rower, Nagraj Sindhale, and helped the employees get on the boat. The group started their journey around 11.30pm. But the boat capsized before reaching Versova jetty. It is believed that it was overloaded," said a police officer.
According to police, five of the occupants, identified as Nazir Ahmad, Mohammad Yousuf Usman, Mohammas Sadiq Qasmani, Devraj Masco and Hussain alias Narsinha, employees of a fishmeal godown and all residents of Versova, had come to work after their employer-- Hanif Macchiwala resumed operations a few days ago, after seeking permission from the authorities.
The fire department received a distress call around 1am, and a rescue team reached the spot 30 minutes later. A fire brigade rescue boat and a jet ski was deployed for the rescue operation, said a fire officer. "On enquiring with police, it emerged that the incident occurred around 8pm but police were alerted about it only when relatives of the missing people approached them. Fire officials had started the rescue operation along with Sagari Police, but because of the high tide around 4am, the search operation had to be called off due to rough seas," the officer said.
Jagdeo Kalapad, senior inspector of Malvani police station said, they had booked Koli, Sindhale and Macchiwala under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for causing death due to negligence (section 304A) , disobedience of orders promulgated by a public servant (section 188), act endangering personal safety of others (section 336), conveying person by water for hire in an unsafe or overloaded vessel (section 282) and common intention (section 34).
"The warehouse owner should have provided accommodation to all the labourers at Madh itself. We have arrested Koli and Sindhale, while Macchiwala's role is being investigated," added Kalapad.
