Burdwan, 02 January (H.S.): Amidst New Year's celebrations, a young man from the Kanchan Nagar area of Burdwan lost his life while trying to save his friend. The deceased has been identified as Dipankar Shil (33), a resident of Rathatala Puratan Colony in Burdwan city. The tragic incident occurred in the DVC canal near Kanchan Nagar Chanditala.

According to local sources, on Thursday, on the occasion of the New Year, a group of young men had gone for a picnic by the DVC canal in the Kanchan Nagar Chanditala area. In the afternoon, one of them, Vijay Das, went into the canal for a swim. Suddenly, he started drowning in the deep water. Seeing his friend in distress, Dipankar Shil couldn't restrain himself and jumped into the canal without a second thought for his own safety.

Thanks to Dipankar's tireless efforts, Vijay Das somehow managed to get out of the water, but during the rescue attempt Dipankar himself drowned.

Local residents immediately launched a rescue operation. After about an hour of searching, Dipankar's body was recovered from the canal. He was immediately taken to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The New Year's festivities turned into mourning in an instant.

On information, Burdwan South MLA Khokan Das visited the hospital and expressed his condolences to the bereaved family. He said, Water has been released into the canal for irrigation purposes since yesterday. Every year, thousands of people come here for picnics, and unfortunately, such fatal incidents occur every year.

The police have sent the body for post-mortem and have initiated an investigation into the matter.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey