RAJKOT: A late-night gambling session turned fatal early Tuesday morning when three men died after falling into an uncovered well at a private farm in Khakadi village, Ghogha taluka, in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district.The incident occurred around 3 am after a rumour of a police raid triggered widespread panic among the 11 people gathered at the site.The deceased have been identified as Rahul Chauhan (35), Nilesh Dabhi (37) and Ajitsinh Sindha (45), all residents of Bhavnagar city.According to officials, the group had travelled from Bhavnagar to the farm, which falls under the jurisdiction of Vartej police station, around midnight. During the game, a sudden rumour of an impending raid caused the attendees to scatter in the darkness.In the ensuing chaos, one person fell into the open well, which had been left uncovered during the monsoon. A second man attempted to rescue him but slipped and managed to save himself by clinging to a nearby tree. Two other individuals subsequently fell into the well while attempting to flee across the slippery terrain.Police received a distress call around 4 am from the farm owner, who was also allegedly participating in the gambling activity, reporting that a body was in the well. Upon arriving at the scene, authorities recovered three bodies from the water and rescued the stranded survivor.Assistant Superintendent of Police (Bhavnagar) Ghanshyam Gautam confirmed that an accidental death case has been registered and that post-mortems are being conducted by a medical panel.“Preliminary inquiry reveals that last night, a group of individuals had gathered at a private farm. It is said that one of the persons raised concerns that ‘there is somebody’, which created sudden panic among the people present, during which three individuals accidentally fell into the dark, uncovered well and succumbed to death,” ASP Gautam told TOI. He explicitly denied that Vartej police had conducted any raid at the farm.Investigators are currently recording statements from the survivors to establish the exact sequence of events. Authorities are exploring multiple angles, including whether the alarm was triggered by an unidentified noise or whether the rumour was intentionally fabricated by someone who wanted to grab the cash on the table and flee during the commotion.
