BALASORE: Three members of a family went missing and another had a providential escape while fishing in the sea near Chowmukh in Balasore district on Saturday evening.
The missing fishermen are Gopal Giri (57) and his sons Madhusudan Giri (35) and Rabindra Giri (30) of Kankadapal village under Baliapal police limits. Gopal’s brother-in-law Jagannath Pal (44) was rescued from the sea on Sunday morning.
Sources said at around 8 am on Saturday, the four men set out for fishing from the Chowmukh coast on a motorboat carrying nets, dry food and other essentials. When they did not return home by 4 pm, family members alerted the Baliapal police, the local Fisheries officials and fire services personnel.
A search operation was launched the same evening involving personnel from Udaipur-Talasari, Kasafal and Balaramgadi Marine police stations, along with teams from the Fisheries department and Sagar Mitra volunteers. Drones were also deployed for aerial surveillance along the coastline on Sunday morning.
IIC of Udaipur-Talasari Marine police station Chambabati Soren said three boats, one from Kasafal and two boats from Balaramgadi were used in the search operation. Pal was found on the motorboat but the fate of the other three fishermen remains unknown.
The rescued fisherman is unable to speak due to severe anxiety and is currently undergoing treatment in a local hospital. Rescue teams are continuing the search operation to trace the three missing fishers, he added.