In a tragic incident, a car carrying three police personnel plunged into the swollen Shipra River in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district after skidding off a bridge, officials said on Sunday.
The incident
took place on Saturday, around 9 pm, when the three officials– Unhel police station in-charge, Ashok Sharma, Sub-Inspector Madanlal and a woman constable, Aarti Pal–visited the holy town for a case investigation.
The three were returning to Unhel, about 50 km from the district headquarters, when their car fell into the river. Their phones had been switched off since Saturday night, with the last mobile location showing the Shipra bridge.
The officials said that the body of Sharma was recovered from the river on Sunday morning after a 12-hour-long search operation. Police suspect that the two other officers also drowned in the incident.
The car fell into the river from the bridge without railing, Jiawaji Ganj area City Superintendent of Police Pushpa Prajapati told news agency PTI.
She said that the search operation was halted at 2:30 am due to darkness and resumed at 5:30 am on Sunday, she said.
Ujjain SP Pradeep Sharma said, “A white car plunging into the river on a bridge was reported. The water flow is strong, making it difficult to determine the number of occupants or their condition. Onlookers and on-duty police suggest that there were at least two people in the car, with the windows closed; however, this has not yet been confirmed. Multiple SDRF teams are preparing to go down to locate the car…”
#WATCH | Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh: SP Pradeep Sharma says, “This is a very tragic incident. We lost our three police officers, including the Unhel police station incharge Ashok Sharma, sub-inspector Ninama, and lady constable Aarti Pal. A fourteen-year-old girl went missing… https://t.co/gofZDypRrC pic.twitter.com/ZiaMQl11B9
— ANI (@ANI) September 7, 2025
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and Home Guards with boats, drones and divers were searching for the two personnel.
The car has not yet been traced even after over 12 hours of operations.
(With inputs from agencies)
