SDRF Recovers Body of Tamil Nadu Youth Who Drowned at Shivpuri’s Yusuf Beach; Search Operation Concludes After Five Days

The Ganga does not give back easily. Those who know her waters understand this — the currents that shift without warning, the depths that swallow silence whole.
On April 6, a young man entered the river at Yusuf Beach in Shivpuri. He did not come back. His name, his family would later confirm, was Vijay Ravi — 28 years old, from Thirumudivakkam in Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu. Hundreds of kilometres from home, in waters he may have never known before.
For five days, an SDRF team searched. Scuba divers descended. Rafts swept the currents. Modern equipment scanned what the eye could not see. The operation stretched across multiple locations along the Ganga, driven by the quiet, relentless discipline of rescuers who understand that their work is as much for the living as for the lost.
On April 11, the search ended at Phool Chatti — the body of Vijay Ravi was recovered from the river’s edge.
His family, who had made the long journey north to wait and to hope, identified him. The District Police completed the inquest formalities. The body was sent to AIIMS for post-mortem.
A son. A family’s grief, now certain. And a river that continues to flow, indifferent and eternal.
📍 Yusuf Beach, Shivpuri | Recovery Site: Phool Chatti, Rishikesh
🔵 Operation by: SDRF (State Disaster Response Force)
🏥 Post-mortem: AIIMS Rishikesh