Mumbai rains: Body of missing doctor found near Worli

MUMBAI: Rescue agencies have located the body of gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amrapurkar (58) who had been missing for the past 36 hours after slipping into an open manhole. His body was found washed ashore off Worli coast around 7.30am on Wednesday morning.Dr Gautam Bhansali , who was among the last few people to see him alive, confirmed that they identified the body with the help of his wrist watch. “Our worst fears have come true,” Dr Bhansali said. The body was sent to Sion Hospital for autopsy. He is survived by his wife and two children.Multiple disaster control agencies launched a massive search operation on Tuesday evening when a few locals saw him falling into a manhole at Senapati Bapat Marg during Tuesday’s downpour. The doctor made the last call to his wife Dr Anjali, a pathologist, around 6.30pm on Tuesday, saying he would be home in 5-7 minutes. More than 24 hours later, he had not made it to their Prabhadevi residence, merely a kilometre away from the spot where he was last seen.A few eyewitnesses reportedly had seen him falling into an open manhole near the Elphinstone junction. They saw someone walking on the edge of the road where a manhole lid was open. The locals had removed the lid as the water didn’t recede for hours. A taxi was parked just ahead of it and a bunch of bamboo sticks were placed near the manhole to prevent any accident. A few of them even tried to alert the doctor but he probably couldn’t hear them. The doctor’s umbrella, however, had stuck on the mouth of the manhole, which was later identified by the family.