Surat: A viral video of six men riding a makeshift thermocol raft on the rain-swollen Khapri river in Dang district landed them in legal trouble, underscoring the risks that accompany the monsoon tourism rush to the state’s waterfalls and rivers. Police arrested all six on Monday, saying the stunt endangered lives and violated safety orders.The six were arrested in Dang district on Monday after a video of the stunt was widely shared on Sunday. The clip shows the the accused sitting on a makeshift raft in gushing river waters. None of them was wearing safety gear required for river rafting.According to police, the raft was made with a metal frame and expanded polystyrene (EPS), or thermocol, covered with a plastic sheet. The stunt was performed in the Khapri river, which was flowing at a high level, near Devinamal in Ahwa taluka, close to the Vaddahad bridge.After the video spread, police identified those involved — Kaushik Jadav, Balkrushn Deshmukh, Tejas Gayakwad, Dilip Desai, Tushar Chaudhary and Manish Tumbda.Police booked and arrested them under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for disobeying a lawful order issued by a public servant.With the onset of the monsoon, rivers, springs and waterfalls across Dang attract large numbers of visitors. Heavy rain has again turned many waterbodies into popular destinations.“The stunt is believed to have been performed a few days ago during the first spell of heavy rain. They uploaded the video on Sunday. They performed a dangerous act and action has been taken against them to send a message to people to avoid such dangerous acts,” a police officer said. Every year, the district administration issues prohibitory orders urging people to stay away from rivers and waterfalls during periods of heavy flow.
