Man drowns in underpass, teen electrocuted

Ahmedabad: Two people lost their lives in rain-related accidents on Monday and Tuesday. A 47-year-old man, Rajkumar Matreja, a worker at a tea stall, drowned in an underpass in the city, and a 19-year-old migrant labourer was electrocuted in Sanand.The body of Matreja was found floating in the Jivandas Damani Underpass near Daxini in Maninagar. Matreja is survived by his mother Lata and two sisters. Khokhra police inspector, N K Rabarti, said that the cops on Tuesday received a message from one Dilip, who told the cops that a dead body had been floating in the waterlogged underpass. On reaching the spot, the cops found the body of an unidentified person who was later found to be that of Matreja, a resident of Bhagwati Nivas, Maninagar East.Rabarti said that a detailed statement was taken from the family members of Matreja. "To determine the cause of death, the body was sent to the Civil Hospital for postmortem examination. The doctor who performed the postmortem confirmed that the death was due to drowning," he said.Cops said that Matreja had left home around 4am on Tuesday and was on his way to the tea stall where he was working as an assistant. The family doesn't suspect any foul play, said a police official. According to Vinod Matreja, a cousin of the deceased, Matreja worked at Shivshakti Tea Stall in Maninagar South Society Chowk. He was unmarried.In another incident, a 19-year-old migrant labourer was electrocuted in Sanand in Ahmedabad district during heavy rain on Monday.According to Sanand police, the deceased, Ashok Parmar, a native of Punali village in Dungarpur taluka of Rajasthan, was staying on the first floor above a pan shop on Sanand-Bavla Road. Parmar was a casual labourer and was living with his friend Kamlesh Parmar, 24, who was also a native of the same village.On Monday afternoon, Ashok was climbing downstairs using a ladder made of metal when it was raining. The ladder, sources said, touched a live wire, and he collapsed there.Ashok was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. Sanand police registered a case of accidental death and began an investigation.