DIGHA: Two youths — identified as Abhradip Bagaria (22) and Deborshi Singh (23), part of an eight-member tourist group to Digha from Madhyamgram — went missing in the sea on Sunday.
Search conducted by police and locals proved abortive till late evening. Due to warnings for cyclone Gulab and its possible impact on coastal Bengal, East Midnapore District police had issued strict prohibition against bathing in the sea in Digha and maintained vigil along the shore.
This group of tourists, who had checked into an Old Digha hotel on September 25, had gone to Talsari, that falls under jurisdiction of Odisha police, to have fun in the sea.
As per precautions, hoteliers were told to cancel bookings and tourists in Digha were asked to vacate the hotels. DM of East Midnapore, Purnendu Kumar Maji, said, “This decision was taken for the safety of the tourists. Violent waves had been lashing the beach on Sunday and breached the guard wall to enter Digha town.” BDO of Ramnagar I, Bishnuapada Roy, visited Digha beach to ensure the safety of tourists. DM of South 24 Parganas, P Ulganathan said that they cancelled hotel bookings of tourists in Bakkhali, Gangasagar and Gosaba. “An NDRF team had been deployed in Kakdwip,” Ulganathan said and wanted four more teams.
