Hussain Sagar boat fire accident: Ajay’s family, friends and union members protest demanding ex-gratia, govt job and a case

Family members, friends of S. Ajay, along with members of various unions staged a protest in front of Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad on Wednesday (January 29, 2025).
| Photo Credit: Siddhant Thakur

A day after a 21-year-old engineering student S. Ajay’s body was retrieved from the Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabadfamily members, relatives, friends of the deceased along with members of various unions staged a protest in front of Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, putting forth their demands on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) morning. The body was in the mortuary of the hospital.

The crowd started gathering around 9.15 a.m., which included students of Geethanjali College of Engineering and Technology – where Ajay pursued academics. Slogans of “we want justice” filled the air as the protest gathered momentum by 11 a.m. “Until our demands are accepted by the Union Minister Kishan Reddy, we will not sign on the postmortem documents,” said a family member.

Ajay went missing on the night of Sunday (January 26, 2025) after a massive Fire that engulfed a boat and a jetty during ‘Bharatha Matha Maha Harathi’, an yearly event organised by the Bharatha Matha Foundation.

The body was retrieved around 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) following about a 48-hour-long search operation. His body was shifted to Gandhi Hospital mortuary for postmortem evaluation.

Demands

Among the demands put forth by the students include ₹1 crore ex-gratia, government job for Ajay’s elder brother Aravind. The family also said that a case must be booked against the organising committee for hosting firecracker show without permissions, leading to the accident.

The protestors are planning to carry out a rally towards the Union Minister Kishan Reddy’s residence in Barkatpura.