Bengal magician drowns in Ganga as Houdini trick goes wrong

Representational picture

Kolkata: A Kolkata-based magician, who attempted an underwater escape trick in Ganga like legendary magician Harry Houdini, is feared to have drowned as his body could not be found till Monday afternoon, police said. Magician Chanchal Lahiri whose stage name is 'Jadukar Mandrake', was reportedly lowered into the river from Kolkata's Millennium Park area with his hands and legs tied as part of the stunt on Sunday but could not come out of the water.

An officer from River Traffic Control Department said, "The disaster management teams conducted search operations on Sunday night and Monday morning but his body could not be found. It is possible that the body has been swept away. We are also conducting searches on the nearby riverbanks on both sides of Ganga but nothing has been found so far."

During the trick, Lahiri had gone to the midpoint of the river just underneath the bridge with his hands and feet tied up. From there he was picked up by a crane and thrown into the river near pillar number 28 of the bridge. The magic that Lahiri was supposed to perform required him to come up from water, by untying himself on his own. However, the spectators who were waiting there started to panic after Lahiri did not come out of water even after more than 10 minutes.

The River Traffic Control personnel then launched a search and rescue operation but there have been no traces of Lahiri since.

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