NEW DELHI — An Indian magician was believed dead on Monday after attempting a stunt inspired by Harry Houdini that involved an underwater escape from half a dozen locked chains.

The magician, Chanchal Lahiri — known by his stage name, Wizard Mandrake — had several men bind his arms and legs with rope and fit the chains around his body for the stunt on Sunday afternoon.

A crane then lowered Mr. Lahiri, who was in his early 40s, upside down into a murky stretch of the Hooghly River, which branches off the Ganges and cuts through the city of Kolkata, where the magician lived.

“The magic we are going to do today is so risky,” he said in a video filmed before the attempt.

Spectators began to panic several minutes after Mr. Lahiri was submerged into the water, according to local news outlets. India’s disaster management agency and the police called in several divers to search for Mr. Lahiri’s body late into Sunday night.