| From laughter to silence: Tawi tragedy leaves 3 KP migrant families broken | | LG Sinha, CM Omar, Jagti Migrants Welfare Movement pay tributes | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 31: What began as a carefree Sunday outing ended in unimaginable heartbreak for three Kashmiri Pandit families in the Jagti area of Nagrota.
Five teenage friends had walked to the banks of the Tawi River, chasing a few moments of fun and relief. They laughed, played, and eventually stepped into the water—unaware that the river they trusted would turn merciless within moments. By evening, three of them—Bavish Koul (15), Sonam Dutt (16), and Aditya Pandit (15)—had been swallowed by the strong current.
Two days later, the same river returned them… lifeless. A Riverbank That Fell Silent
On Tuesday morning, the banks of the Tawi wore a hauntingly different look. The place that had echoed with laughter just days earlier now stood still—wrapped in silence, grief, and disbelief.
Families, many from displaced Kashmiri Pandit backgrounds, stood staring at the waters that had taken away their children. There were no words left—only empty eyes and broken hearts.
From the moment the boys disappeared on Sunday evening, their families entered a night of endless waiting. Some stayed at the riverbank, others at home—but none slept.
Eyes swollen from tears, they clung to a fragile hope that the river might still return their children alive. Every ripple in the dark water felt like a sign, every passing hour like a lifetime.
Meanwhile, teams from police, NDRF, and SDRF battled the darkness, searching relentlessly with torchlights piercing through the night.
On Monday afternoon, that fragile hope began to shatter. Around 2:30 pm, divers made their first grim discovery. Bavish Koul’s body was found 16 feet deep, trapped in silt beneath the riverbed. The family had barely processed the loss when, within ten minutes, Aditya Pandit was found nearby—claimed by the same unforgiving current.
Cries of mothers tore through the silence as the bodies were brought ashore. Fathers stood motionless, as if the weight of grief had turned them into stone. The crowd that had gathered could not hold back tears—pain had become collective.
On Tuesday morning, the last flicker of hope was extinguished.
Rescue teams recovered the body of Sonam Dutt nearly half a kilometre downstream from where the boys had entered the river. With that, the tragedy was complete—three young lives lost, three families devastated.
The bodies were shifted to Government Medical College, Jammu, for postmortem.
Initial reports suggest the boys had been playing volleyball on the riverbank before stepping into the water to bathe. What seemed like an ordinary moment turned fatal within minutes.
Two of their friends managed to return safely. The other three never did.
As the bodies were laid on the riverbank, the air filled with wails that no one could ignore. Mothers collapsed, fathers stared into nothingness, and siblings struggled to understand a loss too big for words.
The Tawi flowed on—indifferent, unchanged—while lives along its banks were shattered forever.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has expressed grief over the incident, offering condolences to the families of the victims. The bodies of the recovered boys have been shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu for post-mortem and later on will be handed over to their families for the last rites.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed sorrow, praying for strength and solace for the grieving families in this hour of immense loss.
A wave of shock and grief has gripped the entire Jagti colony and people from all walks of life have expressed heartfelt condolences on the worst ever drowning incident which took away three precious lives.
Meanwhile, Jagti Migrants Welfare Movement led by Sunil Pandita paid tributes to the departed young souls during a condolence meeting, who lost their lives in such a tragic incident.
Those who attended the meeting included Ashwani Bhat, TK Dhar, Sanjay Dhar, Ashok Ji and others. |
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