Dibrugarh: Four men from Chabua’s Balijan area have gone missing since Saturday afternoon after being swept away by the strong currents of the Brahmaputra.The incident occurred around 3:30pm, when five friends — Satyajit Ghosh (28), Surajit Ghosh (31), Bubu Ghosh (34), Abhi Sahil (28) and Varun Sowal (39) — from ward no. 12 of Chabua town visited the riverbank for an outing.According to Varun, the sole survivor from the group, Surajit had entered the river to bathe, before joining the group for a meal. “Surajit was suddenly pulled away by the current. Abhi immediately jumped into the river to save him, and the others followed. But the current was very strong and all of us were swept away,” Varun said.Reaching the banks of the Brahmaputra, the 39-year-old raised an alarm with the locals, who, in turn, alerted police and NDRF and SDRF personnel. Family members of the five, too, were informed.Two NDRF boats and an SDRF boat were deployed for the search, but was suspended on Saturday night after darkness had set in. The search operation resumed around 7am on Sunday.“We have searched around four kilometres downstream and our divers have also conducted underwater searches. But we have not been able to locate them,” an SDRF official said.Strong current, coupled with the depth of the river, has made the search operation difficult.
