Kolkata magician lowered into river tied, dies underwater after stunt fails
The rescue workers found the body of Chanchal Lahiri late on Monday in the Hooghly river, the deputy commissioner of the port division of Kolkata police said.
Abody suspected to be of the missing magician Chanchal Lahiri alias Mandrek as is popularly known in his close circles has been fished out at Ramkrishnapur Ghat on the Howrah side of the river Hooghly today.
Police sources at Lalbazar said that a body resembled with that of the missing magician with hands and legs tied was fished out near the Ramkrishnapur Ghat.
The body had been sent for post-mortem and the family members of the Lahiri had been intimated to identify the body. The magician , who in his bid to set an example on the stunts of escape games reportedly on the lines of the renowned legendary magician Harry Houdini, was drowned in the river Hooghly on Sunday while displaying his tricks to appear from the river untying his locks under full public glare .
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Since then his body was untraceable as river traffic police continued with their search operations today
Eyewitness accounts said that the magician who plunged into the Ganges took a ferry from the Fairly Place Ghat with his associates in tow. He was reportedly unloaded with his hands and legs chained below the Howrah Bridge pillar number 28 under North Port police Station at around 12.35 p.m yesterday with the help of a crane to stun the followers with his trickery
However, the stunt went awry as he could not reappear from the water despite a long wait and the search begun
Though sources close to the missing magician said that Lahiri had all the necessary permission to display his stunt, officers at Lalbazar however, refuted the claim of the people close to the magician, saying there was no proper permission to show magic on the Ganges, though the river traffic police was on guard.
According to sources, the magic was to mesmerise people by reappearing from the river blindfolded untying the chain all by Lahiri himself.
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