A day after an 18-year-old girl and a 35-year-old man drowned off the sea face at Bandstand in Bandra, the authorities failed to trace both of them. The search was finally called off after 24 hours.
The incident had occurred at 10.50 am on Saturday. Three girls, Tarannum Ansari (18), Anjum Khan (19) and Masturi Khan (19), all residents of the Benganwadi in Govandi, had gone to Bandstand to spend the day. They lost their balance while taking selfies and fell off in the water.
Ramesh Walunj (35), a local Shiv Sena leader and resident of Jaffar Buwa colony near Bandstand, jumped into the sea to save the girls. While he managed to pull out two, he went out of sight while trying to save Tarannum.
On Sunday, the Bandra police cordoned off the entire area of Bandra fort. No visitors were allowed as barricades were raised to stop people.
“It was done for security and since the search operation was going on,” said a senior police officer. But crowds continued to visit the other parts of the popular hangout, with some even taking selfies standing in the water, the previous day’s tragedy forgotten. Leaders of the Shiv Sena on Sunday paid tributes to Mr Walunj, who is survived by his wife and three children.
While Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is likely to visit his house on Monday, Sena MLC Anil Parab and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai visited and assured the family that the party will take care of all their future expenses.
Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray took to Twitter to pay his respects to the party worker. “My humble tribute to Shiv Sainik Ramesh Walunj, who sacrificed his life, saving 2 of 3 girls from drowning at sea,” he tweeted. BJP MLA and party’s Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar too visited the family on Sunday. Mr Shelar announced he will bear all the expenses of education of Mr Walunj’s three children and will ensure his wife gets a job.
