Body of UP man swept away by Ganga found in Rishikesh; search continues for another

A body believed to be that of 19-year-old Mohammad Kaif was recovered from the Ganga River in Rishikesh, three days after he and his friend went missing while posing for photos at a restricted beach.

Three days after two men from Uttar Pradesh's Amroha were swept away by the Ganga while posing for photographs at a restricted beach in Rishikesh, a team of the State Disaster Response Force and police recovered one body near the Sadhu Samaj Ghat in the city late on Sunday evening, officials said.

Mohammad Kaif (19) and his friend Mohammad Faizan (25) had gone missing on Thursday after being swept by the Ganga at a restricted beach in the Lakshman Jhula area.

While Kaif's body was found on Sunday evening, the search continued to trace Faizan, the officials said.

Authorities have handed over the body to the local police after completing the necessary legal formalities, they said.

''Our team is using deep diving equipment to trace the second missing person amid challenging conditions caused by strong river currents,'' SDRF Commandant Arpan Yaduvanshi said.