Hyderabad: Protests erupted at Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad on Wednesday, January 29, after family members and friends demanded justice for 21-year-old S Ajay who drowned in Hussain Sagar lake during the 76th Republic Day celebrations in Hyderabad.
Ajay was in one of the boats that caught fire from firecrackers during the celebrations. To save his life, he jumped into the lake and drowned.
His body was recovered on January 28 after a 45-hour search. Hyderabad Disaster Response Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency’s (HYDRAA) disaster response force (DRF) brought the body out of Hussain Sagar at around 6 pm.
His body was found where the boat caught fire.
Hussain Sagar fire accident: Body of missing Hyderabad boy recovered
His body was shifted to the Gandhi Hospital for postmortem. However, angry family members refused to sign the postmortem documents and demanded to meet Bharatiya Janata Party state president G Kishan Reddy. Carrying posted of Ajay, they chanted, “Kishan Reddy down, down” and “We want justice”.
The Bharata Matha Maha Harathi, hosted by the Bharath Matha Foundation was conducted at the People’s Plaza located on Necklace Road. G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma attended the event. After the Arathi concluded, Kishan Reddy reportedly gave a green signal for the fireworks program.
Siasat.com spoke to the Secretariat station house officer (SHO) who said that a preliminary investigation suggested the fireworks were conducted from a distance. “It seems the crackers hit the boats and resulted in the accident,” the SHO had said.
Apart from Ajay, 35-year-old fireworks expert Ganapathy also died in the event. He received severe burn injuries and passed away the following day at the Yashoda Hospital.
Three others were also injured with minor injuries. They were discharged the same day.
Ajay, a resident of Hanuman Temple Lane in ECIL, has been pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering program.
