Day 6: Search on after Sopore teenage girl jumps into river Jhelum

Baramulla, Dec 17: The joint rescue operation by State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Wular Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA), Indian Navy’s MARCOS, Fishermen Association Sopore, police and local administration for the drowned girl is going on in full swing in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The 17-year-old girl is missing after she jumped into river Jehlum in Sopore area of Baramulla.
The search for the drowned girl entered its 6th day on Saturday.
An official told Rising Kashmir that dozens of divers including SDRF, marine commandos of Indian Navy’s MARCOS team, team of WUCMA, local fishermen and Sopore police are continuously putting their efforts in retrieving the body of the missing teenage girl.
Riyaz Ahmad Shah, Block officer (West) Wular Conservation and Management Authority said that for three days their team utilized their personal and financial services to retrieve the body.
“We used a special marine boat, a team of six men for 3 days. We also provided life saving jackets and a wooden boat to the volunteers involved in the rescue operation,” Riyaz Ahmad told Rising Kashmir.
He said that as directed by DC Baramulla and Coordinator WUCMA, the department utilized every resource to retrieve the body.
Officials said that the river is around 50-60 feet deep and cold gushing water is creating problems in the search.
Bashir Ahmad, a Guard in the department of fisheries, said that they have utilized the services of around 15 boats and dozens of men to retrieve the body.
He said that the search for the missing girl entered the 6th day but unfortunately they couldn’t retrieve the body.
While talking to Rising Kashmir, President Mahigeer Association Sopore Ghulam Hassan said that around 30 fishermen and 10 boats of local fishermen have been put in use to retrieve the body of the teenage girl.
“As soon as we received a call from the department of fisheries, we appealed to the fishermen community to use the resources to retrieve the body. We will provide our services whenever needed,” he added.
Meanwhile locals of Sopore have appealed to the administration to fence the Sopore bridge in order to stop the practice of jumping in the river Jehlum.