A Gujarat-based businessman and his female friend - a student of the Goa Institute of Management in Sanquelim faced a harrowing experience on their weekend trip when an unidentified sedan chased them early Saturday.
To escape the other car driver, the rental car in which the duo was travelling plunged into the St Estevam river. While the female student managed to escape, her male friend Bashudev Bhandari remains missing, though reports suggest he also tried to crawl out.
The search operation has been ongoing for 12 hours. The Fire and Emergency personnel and Navy divers for now have recovered the sunk Swift car, which had a Mapusa RTO registration.
The incident took place around 1:25 am, shortly after the couple left Sanquelim at 12:45 am. About 20 minutes later, they were involved in a minor collision with a light-colored sedan at Marcel, after which the sedan began tailing them closely.
The situation escalated when the Swift car ended up in the river at the St Estevam ferry ramp. While the female student managed to escape, Bhandari is feared to have drowned.
Emergency services, including the Old Goa Police, fire brigade, and Indian Navy divers, are are still at the site to locate Bhandari. They are also searching the surrounding bushes, hoping to find any signs of him in case he fell or was injured near the ramp. The police found a laptop, a luggage bag and other articles from the retrieved car. The girl's preliminary statement has been recorded and her family from Gujarat arrived in Goa shortly after being informed about the incident.
