Farmer swept away in floods, body in Pakistan

A 53-year-old farmer from a border village in Amritsar died after he fell into the Ravi on Tuesday and was swept away towards Pakistan. Hailing from Ghonewal village in Ajnala, Balwinder Singh had apparently gone to take a round of his fields but accidentally fell into the river.

The BSF instantly shared information with their counterparts across the border. The Satluj Rangers said an identical body had been recovered and asked for a close relative to identify it.
It was mutually agreed upon by the security forces of both sides to hand over the body through the Attari-Wagah checkpoint. The spot where the incident occurred is around 3-km upstream where the river enters Pakistan. Some eyewitnesses later told the police that they had seen Balwinder Singh being swept away in the river towards the Pakistan side.
Rajesh Sharma, DIG, BSF, Gurdaspur, said the victim went to his fields and saw that some of his equipment had fallen into the stream. “To pull it out, he entered the water without realising that the river was in full spate and the water level had increased. He was swept away and his body was recovered by the Satluj Rangers,” the DIG said.