Bodies of 5, missing since Feb 28, fished out from Guj canal

Over a fortnight after they went missing, bodies of five members of a family in Gujarat's Surat were Sunday fished out from a local canal, police said.

The bodies of Jeevan Gamit (65), his wife Sharmila (62), son Dharmesh (41), daughter-in-law Sunita (36) and granddaughter Urvi (6) were brought out from a canal near Madhi village in the district, said Bardoli police station Inspector B K Patel said.

"The five are residents of Kapura village in Vyara tehsil in neighbouring Tapi district. Their family members had filed a missing person complaint at the local police station there on February 28," Patel said.

"Their car apparently fell into the canal near Madhi village. The Maruti Eeco car they were travelling in was spotted in the canal by residents on Sunday who then informed us. We brought out the car and the bodies of the five were found inside in a highly decomposed state," he informed.

Relatives of the deceased have told police they had gone to Bardoli to offer prayers at a temple and were on their way back when they met with an accident, Patel said.

"It seems the driver lost control of the car and it plunged into the canal. Further probe into the incident is underway," he added.