Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Three persons went missing after a car plunged into a canal of the Jayakwadi Dam near Paithan town in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred around 11 pm on Monday near a college in Changatpuri village of Paithan, when the car was travelling from Koradgaon in neighbouring Ahilyanagar district to Paithan.

According to an official from Paithan police station, the driver took a wrong route and, while attempting to reverse the vehicle after realising the mistake, lost control. The car then fell from a bridge into the right canal of the dam.

Two occupants of the car — Mukid Shaikh (35) and Nilofar Shaikh (30) — went missing along with Raosaheb Khedkar, a local resident who rushed to the spot to rescue them, the official said.

The driver of the car, Altaf Pathan, managed to escape from the water safely.

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A search and rescue operation is currently underway to trace the three missing persons, police said.