According to the police the incident took place at arounf 1.30. According to onlookers, the young man, believed to be in his late twenties, jumped into the river quite suddenly. Satyavir Singh, head constable, PCR said: ``We got a call at around 1.45 p.m. and we rushed to the spot. By that time some of the fishermen had already jumped after him. But so far we have had no luck.''

There was initially a certain amount of confusion as someone called the fire brigade and said that a child had jumped into the Yamuna. Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot by 2.10 a.m. but were unable to recover a body. It was only later that additional reports confirmed that it was actually a youth who had jumped into the river.

Meanwhile five divers in a motorboat scoured the flowing waters for over three hours in an attempt to find the body. When repeated attempts proved futile, they put out large fishing nets to no avail.

The divers continued their efforts till late in the evening, as curious and worried passers-by looked on. The police said that because the barrage gates were open, the flow of water was very fast and the man could have been carried away by the strong current. The barrage gates were later closed to help in the search for the body.