Youth drowns while swimming, pool operators flee

Ghaziabad: A 25-year-old youth died after drowning in a swimming pool in the Dasna area on Tuesday.Shantanu Thakur, a resident of Badalpur village in Greater Noida, came to the Royal Swimming Pool situated on Ikala Road with his friends Manas Bajaj, Yash, Om Kaushik, Dhurva, Anurag and Bittu for swimming.Around 2 pm, Shantanu jumped into the 5.5-foot pool alone. Shortly after, his friends and others present in the pool noticed that he was floating in an unconscious state.Immediately, the group pulled him out of the pool and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The body was sent for autopsy, and reports are awaited, cops said.Priyashri Pal, ACP of Wave City, said that according to CCTV footage, Shantanu lost consciousness within just three minutes of entering the pool.She added that swimming pool operators Majid Ali and Rashid Ali, residents of Mohalla Khari Kuan, Kasba Dasna, fled the scene soon after the incident.While initial investigation revealed that the duo had a license to operate the pool, authorities are now checking whether the pool had certified swimming coaches, as mandated.