Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 12 Jul: Yikar Taki, a BTech pre-final year student of the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology (NERIST), Nirjuli, is feared to have drowned in the Pare river, near the hanging bridge in Chiputa, on Tuesday afternoon.
Taki hailed from Mirem village in East Siang district.
The incident took place at around 3:30 pm, when Taki entered the river water for a swim with a group of his friends, and drowned in the river.
The Doimukh police, the NDRF and the SDRF conducted a search operation for the drowned student. However, the operation could be started at 5:45 pm due to delay in receiving information, as the accompanying friends didn’t have the contact details of the rescue teams.
The search operation was concluded at 7:30 pm due to darkness. It will resume on Wednesday morning.
Students from RGU and the NERIST also joined the search operation.
Papum Pare DC Sachin Rana and DDMO Nima Tashi also reached the spot to take stock of the search operation.
Rana urged the people not to venture into the river “as the monsoon is at its peak.” He said that he received the information about the incident late as the students were not familiar with the locality.
Authorities from the NERIST, who were also present at the place of incident, said that the institute is on vacation, and that a few final year students were staying back for their industrial training, and Taki was one of them.
NERIST Registrar Mai Ranjit said that the institute has already strictly prohibited the students from going to the riverside after several incidents of drowning some five to six years ago.
The registrar informed that final year students of the institute will be engaged in the search operation on Wednesday morning, starting from 4 am.
In order to carry out the search operation, the Pare hydroelectric project has been asked not to release water till 10 pm. (with inputs from P/Pare DIPRO)
