3 tourists, including constable from Maharashtra, drown off Goa’s Calangute beach

Every year, the Goa government issues an advisory asking tourists to not swim in the sea during the four monsoon months, starting June 1.

Three tourists, including a police constable and his brother, from Akola district in Maharashtra drowned off Goa’s famous Calangute beach on Monday morning, the police said.

The beach is located around nine km from Goa’s capital Panaji.

A group of 14 tourists from Akola arrived in Goa by train around 4am on Monday, Calangute police inspector Jivba Dalvi said.

Soon after, around 6am, all of them went into the sea at Calangute beach in north Goa, though multiple boards had been put up on the beach advising people against swimming in the rough sea, Dalvi said.

There were strong undercurrents, and five of them got pulled further into the sea. While two of them struggled against the current and swam back to the shore, three drowned, the police said, quoting eyewitnesses.

The three victims were pulled out of the sea by locals present on the shore later, and rushed to a primary health centre at Candolim, where they were declared dead, the police said.

The deceased have been identified as Pritesh Lankeshwar Nanda Gawli, 32, his brother Chetan Lankeshwar Nanda Gawli, 27, and Ujwal Vakode, Dalvi said.

Pritesh Gawli served as a constable in the Maharashtra police force, he said.

The bodies will be handed over to the relatives after formalities are completed, Dalvi added.

Last month, the Goa government issued an advisory asking tourists to not swim in the sea for four months, starting June 1. Every year, the state government forbids swimming and shuts down water sports activities during the monsoon.This includes a 61-day fishing ban from June 1 to July 31.

Recently, a firm appointed by the Goa government to provide lifeguards at beaches had said that red flags would be put up on beaches across the state to warn people about the danger of wading or swimming in the sea during the monsoon.