Khopoli businessman drowns in lake near Pune

Lalit Purohit

Pune: A 32-year-old businessman from Khopoli drowned in a lake in Pune after his leg was caught in an underwater plant on Monday. The police have identified the deceased as Lalit Purohit. A case of accidental death has been lodged at Khopoli police station.

Lalit, who owned a garment store in Khopoli, was married and had a one-year-old son. He had gone swimming with his friends Roshan Niladhe and Aashish Shigvan at 9 am in the Peshwa era Vireshwar lake.

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Niladhe recalled, "Lalit was an excellent swimmer and a fitness freak. I had doubts about Aashish's swimming skills so I focused on him. Later Aashish got hurt under water so we came out. Lalit continued to swim. After a while we realised he was in trouble. We could only see his hand. By the time we got a lifebuoy, alerted people and got to the spot where we had seen him, he had disappeared."

The Khopoli police along with professional scuba divers and a rescue team of local residents known as Apaghatgrastanchya madatisathi found Lalit's body after two hours. Police said he was found with his leg caught in an underwater plant.

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